Once Upon a December
by Coraline Swift
Summary: After Breaking Dawn. One of the Cullen's turned another the others don't know about. Now that she has came to live with them, there is a whole other story waiting to unfold... read BD first; Original Pairings
1. Prologue

Prologue

I'd been living in Texas for a long time, but soon, it was getting out of hand there. I was trying to be a neutral; not get involved in anything they were fighting about, but it was getting harder to do everyday.

Live in the south is hard for a vampire; there are a lot of rivalries, and sometimes fights break out between covens. I'd been living with another vampire, Thomas, but the he was starting to pick a side, which at the start neither of us was going to do.

By now I'd decided to live with an old acquaintance. From what I knew about the people he was living with, when I made the decision, they knew I was coming.


	2. Introduction

**Disclaimer:- All of the characters you recognise are from Stephenie Meyer's fabulous mind. All the ones who are new are from mine. lol!! Enjoy!!**

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1 – Introduction

"Crim?" I called, waiting for him to answer. "Crim? Where are you? Do not tell me you've resorted to hide-and-go-seek to stop me going anywhere, because I'm going!" Another pause. This was getting beyond a joke. Soon he was going to get me angry, and he didn't want to do that. "Crim, soon I'm going to get angry, and if you're not careful you and the rest of the house are going to levitate." I waited again, but still no answer. Damn his ability to make even his thoughts quiet!

"THOMAS JEFFERY MCNAB! GET YOU ASS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" I roared, doing my best not to levitate the house, just the furniture. That was a quest all on its own. In a matter of milliseconds he was down in front of me, stopping my stream of French profanities. He came down and saw the furniture touching the ceiling, and smiled wryly at me.

"You weren't kidding, Goldie." Alright, I'll explain the names. Crim, is in-fact short for Crimson, the colour of his eyes, and Goldie for my eyes. We were different, because the soulless creature I had the pleasure of spending the best part of three decades with was a human blood drinker. It was kind of repulsive to me, since drinking animal blood was all I knew, but it was nature and I wasn't about to change what he was.

He walked over to me and looked at the three suitcases behind me. Soon I was caught in an iron tight hug. I hugged him back just as tightly, knowing this was him giving up. He loosened his grip on me but did not let me go, instead engulfing me in a full kiss. I responded instantly, kissing him back, winding my arms around his neck as his went around my waist. Before you start 'thinking', we are not together. We're the best things we have in this world to each other, so sometimes things got a little over the top, though I gave in every time.

This wasn't like the other times he had kissed me. The other times, with things going the way they were, we were desperate for some attention, but this time it was different; it was almost as if he was pleading me to stay, one final attempt to keep me here. It was soft, not demanding, and he was almost letting me have control. Almost. He liked to show who was boss. Slowly, he pulled away, keeping his forehead to mine, his hands either side of my face.

"Please…" he quietly sighed, desperation filling his simple request. Well, the request was simple to him, not so simple for me. I had long thought about weather I was going to go or not. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, other than the decision to leave the same person I was going to now. But, I believed I made the right choice. Now Crim could go and do what pleased, joining whichever side he wanted to join. I closed my eyes. This was so hard.

"I can't," I whispered softly, keeping my forehead against his. I opened my eyes to see him looking down. "I'm doing this for the both of us. Now you can join whatever coven you desire, do what you want without me holding you back." I paused, looking at him to see his eyes focused on me. "Plus, now you can find a girl who will be for the long haul," I added dryly, which made him smirk.

"_You're the only girl that will ever exist for me, Chanelle. I would have hoped you would have known that by now,_" his mind mumbled. We stayed like that for an immeasurable moment before he sighed and released me. I looked at him in confusion. I knew he wanted nothing more than to keep me there for all eternity. "If you're going to catch your flight you have better go. _Before_ I change my mind." In a moment he was in my arms again, tighter than he had pulled me in. His head rested in top of mine, smelling my hair. I soon released him reluctantly and we both made our way towards the door, where the taxi was now waiting for me. Crim put my suitcases in the trunk and turned to me. He held out his hand.

"Good to know you, Chanelle," he said as he grasped my hand.

"_Nous nous verrons bientôt d'autres_," I said as he kissed my hand. He slowly let go and I got into the car. I turned to the driver. "Dallas airport, please." He started driving off and I looked out of the back, seeing the one I was leaving behind for our own good.

"Flight from Dallas, Texas entering from gate two now," echoed the voice over the intercom at the airport in Port Angeles, Washington. I let my 'gate' down for one second and the flood of human thoughts entered my brain.

"_I can't wait to see him again. Wait till he finds out I'm…"_

"_This deal could change my life. My children can have an education…"_

"_Oh, my parents are going to freak when they find out I dropped out! I'll be lucky if I don't get disinherited."_

Ah, the odd workings of the human mind. I have been around humans for maybe ten minutes a day, and now it's going to be a lot longer, but I don't mind. I am completely under control. Two hundred odd years of learning restraint can do that for a person. I dug around in the pocket of my light wash skinny jeans for the piece of paper that held the address of my brother for all needs. He might as well be my brother; even after all of these years that we haven't physically seen each other, he still acts as if he is, though if he still thinks of himself as my brother is a whole other question. Just the thought of him made me smile.

My black open-toe wedges clicked against the floor as I entered the main part of the airport, people's families and friends greeting them. I kept walking to the door, ready to run to the house that I held in my hand. Before I reached the door, a voice called to me.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I turned on my heel to meet the soft voice. My eyes travelled from his brown loafers, to his dark wash jeans, the dark blue sweater with light blue shirt collar peeking out from the top, the pale white skin of his neck and face, his lips curved into a perfect, dazzling smile, high cheek bones, golden yellow eyes and golden blonde hair. It was _him_, the one I had waited two hundred years to see again.

"I believe I am your chauffeur to the Cullen residence, mademoiselle," he said with a smile and ducked his head respectfully. I smiled at his show.

"Well, then, monsieur, if that is the case, then lead the way." I made sweeping motion with my hand past me, motioning towards the door.

"Ah, I will, mademoiselle Le Beau, but there is one matter of business I must take care of first," he stated, taking a step closer.

"And what, pray tell, might that be?" I asked, taking a step to equal his. Immediately I found myself engulfed in his strong arms being spun in mid-air; I laughed at his exuberance and beaming smile, which caused mine to grow even further, if that was possible. He set me down and hugged me properly. Even in my heels I had to and stand on my toes to mach his height. In is mind I could see he was still smiling; I laughed.

"If I needed to breathe right now, I'd be dead," I said sarcastically. He laughed and released me, keeping his hands on my waist. He looked straight at me. He looked from my shoes, to my jeans, my long light grey loose-knit cardigan with the same style of belt tied loosely around my waist, my white tank top underneath. His eyes reached my face, talking in my mouth, cheekbones, my still golden-yellow eyes, and then to my hair. The same hair I'd had since 1724. Don't get me wrong, it's great hair, if I do say so myself. Sort of ginger-red, wavy without being an afro, with it going down to three inches above my waist in the middle and getting slightly shorter as it spanned outwards.

He stood there, still smiling as he touched my hair. Finally, he spoke.

"See, even though I should know better, I'm still looking for a change, which I can't find." He smiled; he was keeping that smile plastered on his face good and proper. _How wrong he is_ I thought.

"None that you can see," I mumbled to our feet, but he heard me. He used his index finger to tilt my head up, my eyes meeting his. His eyes searched my face, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. I brightened my face up, putting the smile back on my face but keeping my eyes the same. "I'll tell you tonight, I promise." He seemed content with that so he released me. He turned on his heel to stand beside me, his elbow held out to me.

"Shall we adjourn to the motorised vehicle, Mademoiselle Le Beau?" he asked with a side smile. I smiled and linked my arm through his.

"I dare say we shall, Mr. Cullen." He took two of my suitcases—always the gentleman, no matter what my strength—and walked out to the parking lot. With my suitcases in the trunk we got into the car and were soon on the highway. We sat in a comfortable silence, until he asked an absurd question.

"Nervous?" he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice. I looked at him incredulously.

"Carlisle, I'm sure I've met worse than the ones you're collected," I answered dryly; I smiled as he punched my arm playfully. "How many are in the house now?"

"Depends on how you're looking at it," he smiled widely at me. I was completely confused. Judging from my silence, he carried on. "Well, the amount of vampires in the house is nine, but including you it would be ten. All of the originals are there; it's just that Edward fell for a human girl, got married to her and they had a half vampire baby and then she changed. You knew about Bella, did you not?" He shot a glance in my direction.

"Yes, you told me in your last letter. What other way could I look at it?"

"Yes, that's the thing. Bella's friend, Jacob Black, is a descendant of Ephraim Black, former leader of the Quileutes. Well, you know that they are werewolves, but they have this thing called 'imprinting'. It's how they find their soul mate. Well, Jacob imprinted on Bella and Edward's little girl, Renesmee. They weren't happy, but they've learned to live with it. Edward and his family have their own house in the forest but they are at our home everyday. Jacob is often at ours everyday also, to see Renesmee. So our house has about ten people in it at one time, six at night." Okay, now I was stunned. Werewolves existing _now_? A half vampire, half human child? One of said werewolves 'imprinting' on said half vampire half human child?

"Wow, Carlisle. What have you gotten yourself into?" I breathed smiling at him in disbelief. He just laughed.

"I ask myself that question _everyday_." He kicked the speed up to almost double the speed limit, and smiled in the exhilaration. I laughed and joined him. He had depleted our travel time dramatically, and soon we were in a small, cloudy town that I knew to be called Forks. I looked up at the sky. _Wow, it really is one of the cloudiest places in the world._

"What do you think?" Carlisle asked, seeing me gaze at the sky. My head snapped around to his direction and, you guessed it, he was _still_ smiling! I swear he didn't stop the whole journey here.

"I think they are perfect conditions for what's living here. A few thousand people and nine vampires. That's almost an all-you-can-eat buffet!" I said, smiling. He looked like he was fighting a smile himself, as well as trying to hold in a laugh. It wasn't working. If I could get this right; if I could get him in the right place… could I still _remember_ the right place? Chin, two and a half inches up his jaw line on the right, at the base of his neck… right in between his neck and collar bone… I reached over and tickled the spot and he roared with laughter, almost throwing us onto the other side of the road. I saved the wheel while he collected himself.

"You were usually so strict and serious about your diet, and now the can loose control of a car over it. What happened?" I asked in shock; I didn't expect to be laughed at, I expected to be scolded.

"Emmett, one of the people I turned, is what happened. Emmett has a … I going to say unique perspective of things. He can see the good side and the fun side in any situation, no matter what's about to happen. If the world was ending, he would probably see the good side of it being that wouldn't miss anyone." Wow, deep-ish and a joker all in one. I might like this Emmett fellow.

"That's a really good way to look at things."

"Yes, Alice has the same viewpoint as Emmett, but is a lot bubblier. She's the probably the most positive one out of us all." I realised something at that moment: Carlisle had a family. The closest thing I had to a family member had a family of his own. It felt odd to finally realise that I wasn't the only one in his life anymore, though I suppose I hadn't been since about 1918. I wondered if he still counted me as his sort-of sister. Would he still after all this time love me the way he did in the 1700's?

"What's going on in the head of yours?" he asked me with one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing…" I mumbled. I averted my gaze from him to out of my window, seeing now that we were driving through a forest.

"Wrong answer." Well, way to put it bluntly. "Please, Chanelle, what are you really thinking?" I made the fatal mistake of looking around to face him. There, stretched over his perfect features, was a look of longing, and a hint of wonder. When he asked me a question and I wouldn't answer, he always knew this would work, and it still worked now.

"Ugh, fine! I'll tell you, but you're going to think I'm stupid." I opened my gate to hear his thoughts for a second, and only one thought was in there thinking about what I had said. _'Fat chance.'_ Ha, trust him to use that one. "I was wondering if… you still thought of me as… you know…" I didn't want to finish, it was such an awkward question to ask. He finished for me.

"As my sister?" he asked in surprise, and I realised only now that we had stopped. I nodded sheepishly. "Well, of course! How could you think I wouldn't?" he asked in non-belief.

"I don't know! It's been a really long time since we've seen each other, almost two years for that matter, and I thought it might have changed, that's all." I shrugged. He looked at me as if I was from another planet.

"Did the scene at the airport tell you nothing? I don't pick up and spin around anyone you know. I'm an old man, border lining four hundred, I'll wear my back out." He winked and stepped out of the car. In a flash he was at my door, opening it like the gentleman he was. Once I was out of the car, I saw the house. Whoops! Wrong word. Mansion. He had a mansion. _They _had a mansion. It was three stories high, white, and huge! I stood and looked at it while Carlisle got my bags. He appeared at my side.

"What do you think?" he asked with that grin I had come to know so well.

"I think you've done _very_ well for yourself, Carlisle. This is amazing. I know you've been a doctor for around a hundred and thirty years but jeez!" He laughed and turned to me.

"Are you ready to go in?"

"Ready to enter the House of Vamp? Yeah, it could be interesting."

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**Hey! Soooo, what do you think?? Be nice, it's my first one. As it goes along, at the end I will put up links to what I see in my mind when I think of the characters. **

**lovelovelove**

**Coraline**

**xoxo**

**Characters:-**

**Chanelle Séléne Le Beau - .**

**Thomas Jeffery McNab - ./_azb7-z33VWA/SVEiKNVzvwI/AAAAAAAAnWM/UAa8N2tu8_**


	3. Dancing Bears

2-Dancing Bears

Carlisle opened the front door and allowed me to enter first. I entered and absorbed the sight around me.

The wide open space of the first floor was spanned out in front of me: all the walls painted white, with a light wooden floor beneath my feet, the grand staircase leading up to the second floor, and then to the third.

"Wow," I breathe-whispered. I could feel him behind be. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I would have thought you had been in many houses like this one, some being even grander than it," he said quietly.

"Yes, I may have, though I can't remember them." He guided me about two metres further into the house and I saw into the front room. I could see the sitting room, with the white sofas and single seats and the huge plasma screen T.V. I could only imagine the picture quality on that thing. On the other side of the hall there was a smaller room, where there was only a grand piano sitting in the window. Edward's piano. I knew their names and some of their hobbies, but I didn't know their faces.

Carlisle looked around, confused. I raised my eyebrow at him. "What are you looking for?" I asked him.

"People. I would have thought that _someone _might be in." Just then, a woman appeared on the stairs on the first floor. She was beautiful, with her caramel-coloured hair, golden eyes and perfect body. She was wearing a light purple short-sleeved dress and ballet flats to match. I looked to Carlisle, and judging by his facial expression—one of love and adoration—this was Esme, his wife. She smiled down at us, slightly sheepishly.

"I'm afraid that may be my doing," she said as she descended the staircase.

"How so?" Carlisle asked with a smile on his face. _He_ _never_ _stops_! I thought.

"Emmett and Alice were going to have everyone ambush you two into one huge 'welcome' hug." She smiled fondly at the thought. "I told them not to and for them to come down from their rooms' one at a time. Edward, Bella and Nessie are coming when we call them." Carlisle nodded in understanding.

"Good plan." He walked to the bottom of the stairs to receive her. He took her hand and kissed it. He turned to me, keeping Esme's hand in his own. "Esme, this is Chanelle. Chanelle, this is my wife."

"It's nice to put a face to a name. I have heard many a good thing about you," I told her sincerely; from Carlisle's letters, it seemed they had the best marriage in history.

"And the same to you. We didn't know much about you until about three weeks ago, when you decided to come. After that, he told us about you. And for the past few weeks, all the stories from his past have included you," she laughed slightly. I joined her and looked at the slightly embarrassed look on Carlisle's face.

"Reminiscing about the past, are we?" I asked through my light giggles.

"Yes, well, enough laughter on my account." He faced Esme. "Which one of them first?" he asked.

"Me me me me me!" was all I heard before a tiny, spiky black haired china doll was stood in front of me. Esme and Carlisle laughed and I smiled. She was keen.

"Chanelle, this is—" Carlisle started.

"Alice. I guessed." I laughed.

"It's great to meet you, Chanelle," Alice said before she engulfed me in a hug. I hugged her back for a while and then she released me. In seconds, a tall, golden-haired man with vampire bites all over him was standing with Alice, an arm slung around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he apologised to Carlisle. "I couldn't stop her. Her hand was on the doorknob before you even asked Esme." He turned to me. "Hello. I'm Jasper Hale. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand for me to shake and I did and smiled at him.

"Nice to put a face to your voice," I said.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked curiously.

"You were out and Chanelle called last week. I answered and we talked. Mostly about the south." Then, I heard a voice from the floor above.

"Can I come down yet?" a deep, masculine voice whined. Everyone else laughed.

"He's almost bouncing off the walls. Let him come down before the walls are destroyed," a feminine voice called. More laughter.

"Yes, you can come down now," Esme called up the stairs. In no time at all, a mountain of a man with dark, curly hair was standing in front of me. Following behind him at a slower pace was one of the best looking women on the planet. Perfect face and body, with long, golden blonde hair. She came to stand beside the one who had just come down. He was smiling like a lunatic. Carlisle spoke up after an awkward silence.

"Chanelle, this is Emmett."

"Ah. That's all the explanation I need." I laughed. I stuck my hand out for him. He looked at it as if I just thrust dog mess in front of him.

"Is she serious with that?" he asked, appalled. Soon I was encircled in an iron-tight hug. He released me after being tapped on the shoulder by Carlisle. "That is what I wanted everyone to do, but no. We had to give you 'space'." Yes, he did the air quotes. He sighed and backed off. The blonde stayed where she was and held out her own hand.

"I'm Rosalie Hale." She smiled slightly.

"Chanelle Le Beau." I reached forward and shook her hand she cast a glance back at Emmett, who was looking a little funny at us shaking hands. She giggled lightly.

"Don't mind him. You get used to him." She winked and laughed again. I did too.

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled and she released my hand.

I looked around at the people I had just met, looking at the new faces, the faces that I knew nothing about, except how they came to be in this immortal world. I knew none of their memories, and had shared none of them; I knew nothing of how they interacted with others, what their personalities were like, and their general disposition. In turn, they knew nothing about me, but I was determined to change that. I would make a good life with these people, and we would make memories of our own.

I would make this work.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was the evening before most things had settled down. My bags were taken up to my new room—wherever that might be—and we all went to the sitting room. I met Edward, Bella and Renesmee. That little girl is so sweet. I had been telling everyone what I had been doing for the last two hundred or so years. I had said where I had lived and all about the south, at which Jasper's attention was caught. I knew he was from the south, so this didn't surprise me. Carlisle jumped in after a small silence.

"So, what have you been doing for money? You never told me any of that." Ah, so I hadn't. I looked at him sheepishly.

"Would you believe me if I said I was a lawyer in three countries?" I asked him. He burst out laughing. He was rocking in his seat and everyone was looking at him funny. Once he settled down he addressed me.

"You hated the law! Everything that went on in the streets! You always complained about the law being the reason for troubles! Such a drastic change of heart! What changed?" He was still grinning from ear to ear.

"I decided to give it a go. I was bored and needed to do something with my life. I then found out I liked it and kept going. I needed a different licence in all different countries, so I just went to school again." I shrugged. Carlisle was still rocking slightly. "Oh, will you calm down? You go against your own kind all together!" I threw back at him, earning myself a playful glare.

"Alright, what else?"

"Um, I'm a nurse in four countries, a doctor in two and have been secretary for about ten different companies. And I think I have a PhD, but I'm not sure. Don't ask me why I don't know, I just don't." I was getting the funny looks now.

"She's complicated. You'll learn how to cope. Hopefully," he added. Then a thought occurred to him. "You said at the airport that you had changed. How so?" Ah, this question. This would be hard to explain. For this, I addressed everyone.

"You all know I lived in the south, right?" They all nodded. "Well, although I was neutral, I got under some people's skin, I got into a few fights, and in them I got bitten." I cast a glace around the room, and was met with a variety of facial expressions. Edward and Emmett were curious, willing me to go on. Jasper could empathise, seeing as he had more bites than I thought possible. Alice, Rosalie, Bella and Esme were all looking like they felt sorry for me, that I had to go through that. Carlisle's was the hardest expression to read.

A part of him looked like he wanted to rip the head's off of the ones who did it, which was the oddest thing because of his compassion; another was the same as the boys, and the girls. His was the face that I really didn't want to look at as I told this story. I looked at the wall behind him.

"The venom has an odd reaction with me. It doesn't just hurt, it gives me things, too." Now everyone was confused. I continued. "It gives me new abilities. Before I was bitten the second time, I had telekinesis. The second time I was bitten, I was given telepathy, the third I got the ability to throw my thoughts to another mind. The last time I got a gate in my head that can stop the thoughts if I want them to stop and it strengthened my telekinesis. I used to only be able to lift a few things, now I can lift an entire room's furniture." My story had ended. I looked down at my knees, letting the information sink into their heads. With Carlisle across the other side of the room, I could tell that he was contemplating coming over here. Surprisingly, Emmett was the first to speak.

"Can you show me the tele-whatsit?" He asked with a smile. "I've never seen it before, and I think it'll be cool," he shrugged. I nodded my head and got up. I told him to come and stand in the middle of the floor in front of me, which he did.

"Alright, clear your mind of anything, and just relax standing there." I read his mind and saw that his mind was now blank. "Alright, you can't interfere with what I'm going to try, because that would ruin it. Just think yes or no." He thought yes, so I started. I focused on all of his limbs, and his back, and soon he was ballet dancing. There was a massive uproar of laughter from behind me in the sitting room, most of the loudest from the men, Edward and Jasper, in particular. Renesmee laughed and came up to join him, and joined in him doing a Demi-pliéin fifth. Everyone thought that this was adorable, but Emmett, big Emmett, doing ballet, soon had everyone laughing again. Soon the laughter took over me and I lost concentration. Emmett was released as soon as I was rocking with laughter.

I made my way back to the sitting room and collapsed in the chair I had vacated. Emmett stomped back in and flung himself down into the seat next to Rosalie, looking severely pissed off. He huffed and crossed his arms.

"I did _not_ mean for you to do that," he grumbled at me. I merely shrugged.

"You wanted to see it. I merely let you experience it first hand." I sat back in the one person armchair, crossing my legs, resting my arms on the rests and spread a smug smile across my face. Edward and Jasper were still laughing. Jasper got his composure back first.

"She has you there," he said, and went back to laughing. I wanted my own fun with them. Since they were on the same sofa, it would be easy.

I focused in the sofa and tilted it to the side so that they both came tumbling off it. I turned my smile to them.

"_See? Not so nice, is it?"_ I thought to them. Edward narrowed his eyes at me, and Jasper looked at me in disbelief. I tapped my temple twice and returned to smiling as they got up. Emmett was now back in full spirits.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Later on the night, after I had spent some more time with everyone, I decided I had better go and unpack. Carlisle showed me to my room.

It was on the third floor, facing the forest and the river. It was a beautiful view to have, really. The whole back wall was glass, so it seemed as if you were really out there. I scanned my new room, thinking about where I would put things.

The walls were two different colours: deep red and white, alternating between walls. Funnily enough, there was a bed. Seeing as I didn't use one for anything, I found it odd for there to be one. But then, I looked past the function, and saw the detail of it. The bed was a double, white metal with red metal vines with leaves winding around the four posts and white chiffon wound around the top bars, flowing down the sides. The bedspread was white, with deep red ribbon and beads forming plant and vine patterns. It truly was a beautiful thing to look at, ever though it would never get used.

A mahogany dresser was in the corner, with books on the surface. I surveyed the books, and realised I had never read any of them.

"They're from my collection," I heard Carlisle say quietly. "I doubt you'll have read them. I have them committed to memory." I smiled back at him and kept looking.

I had my own bathroom, with a wall-sized mirror and make-up set into functions. Alice, I had no doubt. I went back out to the room, I saw there were more books on shelves, as well as CDs and a stereo, the kind that was only out in Japan. A white chaise was rested against the wall, with red cushions sitting in the corner of it. There was a mahogany dressing table with a stool sitting in front of it, yet more make-up and a wide variety of perfumes. But my eyes were not drawn to them. My eyes travelled to the thing to the right of the mirror.

It was made out of white ivory, shining in the light of the spot lights on the roof. The miniature black and white keys of the small grand piano were all perfectly intact, not a chip in them. The small white piano stool sat in front of it, the cushion the same deep red as the bed spread and the other cushions. Carlisle was now behind me.

"Esme and Alice designed this whole room just by that music box," he murmured softly. "I was amazed with the final product they got." I was still looking at the music box, my last relic of my humanity, which I hadn't seen in about two hundred years. If I could cry, my face would be drenched in salt water.

"You kept it," I whispered. "All this time, you kept it. I was sure it would be lost forever. But it's here." I turned to him and hugged him, almost as tight as he hugged me in the airport. My head still fit perfectly under his chin without me straining my neck to get it there.

"It was my insurance that I would some day see you again. You remember the day you gave it to me, don't you?"

Of course I remembered.

_October 17__th__, 1793. Claviere, France - Italy Border_

_This is the hardest day of my life. The day I _had _to leave, or we would always be together. We needed to separate for a little, be individuals in this world. We wanted to see different sights, and go to different places. Wow, this was sounding like a break-up of partners, which, in a way, I suppose it was, though we weren't the conventional partners. He was my brother, in most senses of the word, except the biological sense. _

_We were standing outside the cottage we had in the small village we were living in at the time. Carlisle was standing opposite side of the steps. We were going to do it. Today, we would separate. I looked around the street, seeing if anyone was watching. No one was, so I 'moved' my most prized possession to the front door and it landed softly in his hands. He looked down at it, puzzled, and then realisation flickered across his face. He tried to push it back into my hands. _

"_I cannot take this," he said forcefully. I put it back in his. We were speaking French, remaining inconspicuous to the other villagers. "It is the most important thing you have. I cannot—"_

"_Take it as insurance that you will see me again." I thrust it back into his hands and he gave up. "I will forever write, whichever continent I am on and whichever country I am in, you will receive letters from me." I rested my hand on his cheek. "I will miss you, brother," I whispered. _

"_And I you." He took my hand in his and kissed it, then used it to pull me into a hug. _

"_Thank you," I whispered. "For everything."_

"Do you realise how hard it was for me to take that away from you?" he whispered.

"I think I understand the basics of what you felt." I grinned at him. His heart-stopping smile was plastered across his features.

"Welcome home, Chanelle."


	4. Painted Wings

3- Painted Wings

As August turned into September, the excitement of my arrival had settled somewhat.

Rosalie and Jasper were the first to simmer down. I had gotten to know them the fastest, so I suspected that to be why. Rose and I had similar stories, though I was not the one who got raped in the street. I couldn't believe people would still do that after all of these years. I could relate to Jasper because of my time in the south. Again, our experiences were not the same, though they related to each other somewhat. He wished he could have had the sense to try and be neutral, because it could have solved some of his problems. Then I reminded him that some of his problems from back then were part of the reason that I was here _now_.

The next were Esme, Edward and Bella. Esme was happy I was here and was trying to make me feel welcome for about two weeks, when I felt welcome the moment I stepped into the house. She was happy I was here for Carlisle's sake. Apparently, in the weeks leading up to my arrival, he was running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything ready. This was an interesting image to have in my brain, one that I forwarded to Edward in very awkward silences, to which he burst out laughing while sending me glares. Edward liked the fact that he was not the only one who invaded people's privacy on a daily basis. Somehow, knowing that someone knew the feeling—the echo that you hear in your mind—was comforting. Mostly for his sake, I kept the gate open all the time. It was something that made him feel better. Bella was glad I was there for him. She had no idea what it was like for him and she was glad someone had some sort of idea. She also liked the fact that she was no longer the 'new girl', as Emmett had dubbed her in the past. Now the name had past to me. Fab.

Alice, Emmett and Carlisle were the next to adapt. Alice was happy that she had a whole new person to work on. She had a new body shape, a new face—one that could handle red lip stick, which sent her over the moon—and new hair. Oh, the work she has done on my hair! She loved the red waves that cascaded down my back. She insisted that she did my hair everyday, whether I was leaving the house or not, though it looked good on a daily basis. Emmett liked to play with my gifts. I swear, he was a machine being operated by an eight-year-old under the muscles. For some reason, he liked the fact that he could be flung across the back yard at spontaneous moments. Carlisle was not surprising. He wanted to make up for lost time, two hundred years of lost time. So when he went to the hospital, I went and helped the ladies at reception; we hunted together, which just turned into competition each time; when he needed to go to Port Angeles or somewhere else, he would demand that I came, however reluctant I may be. He always won. Whenever we came back, he belonged to Esme, and I made sure of it. I felt like I was steeling her husband, though it would never happen. Ew. Esme had assured me that she didn't mind that I was spending time with him, but I did, so he spend the nights with everyone else, mostly her.

Nessie was a special case. She stopped being so excited when her mother and father did, but it was me that wanted to know her better. She wanted to know me too, so we did many things together. I taught her some French, which she seemed completely immersed in and she understood it, which was the thing that surprised me. She pronounced all of the works right once she heard me saying them after one time, and retained the information. I also taught her some ballet, which she took to like a duck to water. I liked to call her _le petite fée: _the small fairy. She was small for a child that looked eight, but it didn't limit the way she looked completely adorable.

We were all doing our own thing one morning. Alice had dragged a reluctant Bella to Port Angeles to do shopping for Nessie, since she was still growing so fast. Emmett and Jasper were watching a football game in the living room. They spend most of the game screaming at the screen. I reminded them a grand total of forty-three times that the players couldn't hear them. I received death glares. Esme was working on a new colour scheme. From what I could tell, it looked like it was going to be beautiful. Carlisle was also sitting in the living room, though he was reading a book on neurology, which he had read before. How he could read through the boys' screams I would not understand. He would have it in his 'brain library' soon. Edward was outside, playing with Nessie. Watching them with each other was like watching a 'Happy Families' movie. Their relationship was everything a father-daughter relationship should be. As for Rose and I, we were on the computer looking at clothes, but not just any clothes, Paris Fashion Week clothes. All the latest styles were waltzing up the Paris runways. We were almost drooling over them. Soon, the game was over and a certain southerner made his way over to us.

"Explain to me how a stick wearing a bin bag can be described as 'fashion'?" he asked. I shifted him away with my mind, making him skid across the floor. Rose turned around to see what had happened to him, and laughed. She told me to turn and see the outcome of my efforts. I turned and burst into a hysterical fit.

There he was, Major Jasper Whitlock—which I learned was his real name—pinned against the wall, using all his strength to burst free of the invisible restraints. Soon he gave up and hung his head. By now everyone had heard Rosalie's and my hysterics and came to see. They were laughing now too. Jasper pulled his head up and scowled at us.

"Alright, alright, laugh it up," he sighed. I walked up to him, stopping about a meter away from him. I swear, if looks were venom…

"You were saying, Jazz?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side, smirking.

"You have the _evilest_ smirk I have ever seen," was his genius reply. I pushed him further up the wall so now his head was touching the roof. "Alright. Come on, Ellie, let me down." He was whining, something he knew very well that I couldn't put up with. I let him go and he crashed to the floor. I walked closer to him and knelt down to his level.

"Thou shalt never speak ill of the fashionable. That's your eleventh commandment. Learn it, live it, love it." I patted his cheek twice and then strode off to whistles of appreciation, mostly form Emmett.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In the next week, Jasper had been afraid to say anything controversial to me. I couldn't blame him, what with all the taunting he was getting from Emmett. He had taken it upon himself to remind Jasper of the incident every time he past him, by pressing himself flush with the wall, trying to brake free. Jasper clonked him for that a few times in a few of their fights outside. While Esme was gone, of course.

One day, I was on the computer once again, but not for clothes. I was looking at cars. Sleek, magnificent cars that would happily go at one hundred and fifty miles an hour; one that wasn't too flashy and yet everyone recognised what it was. Soon I found it, and sighed in contentment. Carlisle heard and made his way over to me. He looked over my shoulder at the screen.

"Nice. Good specs. Pretty," he acknowledged. I sighed again.

"Isn't it? Too bad though," I said, walking away from the screen, but he followed me as I made my way outside. I had Crim send the rest of my things up to Forks once I was sure I would be staying. This included all of my books—being the major bookworm I am, I had different books from different times and countries. It also included my target, arrows and bow. Yes, archery was one of my most favourite pastimes. My bow was a Saracen Bow, arrows dark wood with red feathers and ivory tip. The holder was also ivory, with an intricate pattern of vines, leaves and ties winding around it, with a dark leather strap to go over my shoulder so the holder could be on my back. I put them on and got out my first arrow. I aimed and shot. Eight. Damn, try again. Carlisle stood in the doorway watching me. He knew I wanted to get ten, so he waited until then. After another shot I got it and he walked up to me.

"You could have it, know you," he called as I loaded another arrow onto the bow. Shocked, I spun with it in the air, resulting with hitting him in the stomach with it. I was lucky it didn't break.

"Carlisle, it's too expensive. Plus, when would I use it? It's not as if there aren't enough cars in your garage," I answered, turning back to the target.

"_Our_ garage," he corrected, and I rolled my eyes. I turned back to him and saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets. "And you will have a need for it. Soon we will be moving on, and Bella, Edward, Nessie and, of course, Jacob will not be coming with us. That means that the Volvo, Aston Martin, and the Ferrari will also not be coming. Ergo, we will be three cars short, and, as the Volvo was the normal school transportation vehicle, we will need a new one. And the money is not an issue. We already have a house, completely paid for, and have plenty of money, even enough for a car of that style." Now I was speechless. I wanted the car so much, but I couldn't let him _buy _it!

"Well…I…er, don't have a licence, so I can't even drive it. Ha!" I cried as I hit the target in the middle. Ten points!

"Jasper has someone that he can go to and get you a licence. A very good quality one, at that." I huffed. He wasn't making it easy. "You have no more points to argue with," he stated as he walked to my side, taking the bow and arrow out of my hand. "You are having that car." He lined the arrow up and shot. Six. He pulled a face. "You make it look easy." He gave me my bow back. I sighed and he noticed. He put both hands on my shoulders. "Consider it a homecoming gift." He headed for the door but stopped in the doorway. "I'll tell Jasper. Be ready in half an hour." With that he was inside. I sighed. There was no winning against him. _Better start getting ready. _

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In the space of half an hour, I had changed into a pair of white pants, a short sleeved deep purple silk blouse and put on a pair of deep purple satin stilettos, a new addition to my closet, courtesy of Alice and Rose. Alice had, of course, done my hair and make-up. My hair was in a bun on the back of my head with purple chopsticks through it. I liked my hair in this style, and apparently, so did Alice. For make-up she decided that I would have a little eye liner, some light purple eye shadow and clear lip gloss.

I made my way downstairs and saw that Jasper was sitting waiting for me. He was wearing a grey suit with a white button down shirt underneath. The two top buttons were left undone. He heard me coming down and stood up.

"What is it with vampires and being able to pull off a suit?" I asked rhetorically, and he smirked. He seemed a little wary around me. I stepped up to him and embraced him a friendly hug, showing him I wasn't going to do anything. He returned the hug after a bit of reluctance.

"See?" I said to him. "I'm not always going to pin you to a wall." I looked at him and batted my eyelashes. He laughed and released me.

"I know. I've always got to be careful around you, though. I don't know what you'll do next."

"I'll make sure to tell you in advance." He laughed and turned towards the door, on the way out picking up the keys. Once we were outside, I spoke. "I'm going to raise your keys in the air ten feet." Before he had a chance of doing anything, they were up. He turned to me and scowled; my response was a shrug. "I told you I would tell you in advance."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You cannot tell me you actually _liked _The Bee Gees!" I exclaimed as we were on the highway. He nodded.

"Greatest band ever," he said with finality. I shook my head. I had already said that The Beatles were the best, but, no, he wouldn't agree. He moved onto a new one.

"Best villain?" he asked. I thought it over.

"The Joker, Batman. Best in the world." He shook his head and cried out in despair.

"Oh, what has Carlisle done to us? We're ruined if we're going to be stuck with you!" he cried, exasperated.

"Alright then, all mighty one. Who is the best?"

"Megatron! Transformers! How can you think any different?"

"Very easily."

We had been like this for the whole ride to Seattle; asking questions to each other on the best and worst in our opinions. Now we were in the city and parked outside a huge building. On the plaque next to the door, it read _Jason Scott, Attorney at Law_. Jasper came to stand beside me. He smirked at me.

"Are we going to stare at the plaque or are we going in?" I nodded and he waved for me to go in first.

The office was pretty ordinary: light green and magnolia walls. The fish tank was just about the only thing that gave the place any life. That, and the girl sitting behind the desk. Jasper and I walked up to her. His face was completely neutral, and slightly intimidating, even to me. This girl would be shaking in her boots. He coughed slightly, stirring her from her work. As she looked up, she flinched a little at the sight of him; this imposing, beautiful sight standing in front of her. I knew at once that she knew who he was, and something told me that he was somewhat important. She stood up.

"G-g-ood afternoon-n, M-mr. Hale," she stuttered.

"Good afternoon, April. Alert Mr. Jenks of our arrival, please." He narrowed his eyes as she just stood there, not moving from admiration.

"_He never looks less dreamy! But who's the girl? Is that the girlfriend?" _The constant stream of younger brain's thoughts were tedious, to say the least.

"Y-yes. Of course." She got on the phone, telling 'Mr. Jenks' that 'Mr. Hale' was here. As soon as the announcement left her mouth, I could hear the shock and hurry over the phone. It was difficult not to smirk.

"_Do you make it your goal to strike fear into everyone in this office?"_ I forwarded my message onto Jasper's mind.

"_It's the way you get things done around here. Plus, it's quite funny to feel the amount of terror or, in April's case, lust that comes out of these two."_ I looked at him in shock out of the corner of my eye. He picked up on it and smirked slightly. _"I'll have to get used to you doing that thing. It's like being able to only read your mind."_

"_Be thankful you don't have to read it all the time."_ Okay, that didn't mean to slip out. I didn't mean to think that to him. He looked at me confused. Before I could explain, April said for us to go in to see him.

We entered the office room and walked up to the desk. Behind it sat a small, bald man with a white shirt and light green tie. Once we appeared, he stood up at once.

"Mr. Jasper," he said, nodding and extending his hand out to Jazz. _Mr. Jasper? What is this, nineteenth century England?_ Jasper shook it and Jenks winced at the cool touch. "Am I finally meeting Mrs. Alice Hale?" he asked expectantly. He had never met Alice?

"No, Jenks, you are not," he answered coldly. "This is my cousin, Chanelle Cullen." He waved to me.

"Ah, my apologies. Miss. Cullen, a pleasure." He extended a hand. I took it, almost just to see the funny looking wince he made at our cool-to-touch hands. "Please, sit." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Mr. Jasper?"

"Driving licence, Jenks, that's all. One for Chanelle."

"Right." He turned to me. "Do you have a picture, Miss. Cullen?" I pulled out a passport photo that Jasper had me get before coming here. I handed to him and he put it in a file. "What is the name to be down as?"

"Chanelle Séléne Cullen," I answered.

"Birth date?"

"Thirty-first of October, nineteen ninety two." Yes, I was really born on Halloween, that wasn't just something Emmett could laugh at later.

"_Aw! Halloween baby! You didn't tell me that!"_ Jasper thought to me. I scowled. It wasn't that I didn't like my birthday, it was that I didn't like it when people made fun of it.

"Perfect. Well, that will be ready in about one week. Are you sure that is all?"

"Yes Jenks. Thank you. I will come and pick it up next week same day. Assuming your speed has not slipped?" Wow, Jazz was mean to this man! What did he do to him?

"Oh, no, it has not. I look forward to seeing you, sir." We stood as did he. We both shook his hand again; I noticed that his wince was slightly smaller than last time.

We left the office and were driving back to Forks. The drive was a lot longer it seemed this time. that was probably because we weren't talking.

"When I pick up your licence I will come back to the house to take you to the dealership. Does that sound okay?" he asked after half the journey was gone.

"Yes. That sounds fine." I paused, and then asked him a question. "Do you hate Jenks?" He didn't answer straight away, thinking of his answer. Finally he spoke.

"No, not completely. He is good at what he does, but he is a suck-up. That is what infuriates me about him the most. And, as I said before, my apparent hatred for him makes him even more scared of me." We stayed in silence for a few more moments, until I spoke.

"His wince is funny," I stated, as if I was commenting on the weather. He chuckled and grinned.

"That was very random." He full out laughed after he got that out.

"Yes it was, my friend. Yes it was."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

One week had passed and Jasper went to Seattle to pick up my licence. I was so excited because it meant that I was one step closer to my car.

While waiting for Jasper to get back, I was in my room painting by the window. I always painted the same thing but in different styles each time: wings. Wings were the thing that always ended up on the canvas. Every time I finished a painting I called Esme up to take a look.

These wings were more different than others I have done. Usually wings I do are bird's wings, but these are more the shape of a butterfly's, but without the veins. The edges were deep red, and then the colour faded as it got further into the wing. The tops of the wings were light pink, almost white. Over the base colour of the wings, deep red curls and swirls spanned out over them. Soon I was done and called up Esme. When she was up she took one look and gasped. I looked over to her and looked at her expectantly.

"_Are they okay?"_ I asked her. She looked quite stunned, still not used to my ability, but she recovered.

"_They're gorgeous. The best you've done so far. C'est trés belle."_

"Thank you, Esme." Suddenly, we heard a car coming up the driveway. Jasper's car.

My licence!

* * *

**A/N: Ok, here's the deal. This is probably going to be either my last of second last update for a while. I'm going away where I won't have access to a computer, though I will be writing on paper, waiting to be able to type it up. Then I'm going to have major jetlag. Eight hour time difference is no walk in the park. **

**Also, I noticed I was a complete numpty and didn't put who Chanelle was in my mind. You may not approve of her, but this is just what I saw in my head. So, r&r sil vous plais!**

**(Here was where a picture was going to be, but no, it won't let me. just picture Lindsay Lohan with her hair red. That's just what I saw.)**

**lovelovelove**

**Coraline**


	5. Things I Almost Remember

4- Things I Almost Remember

My car. My car, my car, my car. In short, I loved it. Silver, with sand coloured interior. I had already drove it all around Washington, giving everyone in the house at least one ride. The beauty of it was that I didn't get pulled over. Ever. In a month it had done about two thousand five hundred miles. But at this moment, I wasn't driving it.

I was sitting in the living room with Emmett, entertaining him. He was thinking of objects in his mind, and I was to lift them. This was amateur stuff, but he evidently didn't grasp that. About fifteen minutes in, I saw Jasper in my peripheral vision, looking very nonchalant as he walked to the front door. I could tell that he was trying to hide something from me.

"Jasper?" I asked in a sing-song voice. He walked backwards until he was in view of the living room. He took in all the flying objects. _I'm going to have to get used to that_ he thought.

"Yes?" he said in a careful tone.

"Where are you going?" I asked in a friendly tone, to relax him. Ha, funny I'm doing something to the emotional manipulator.

"Uh, just for a run. Goodbye." He tried to run off but I stopped him at the door, 'gluing' the door shut. _Damn, I should have known she was going to do that! Alright, I'm safe, as long as I don't think about the ke— Damn it!_ So, he had keys?

"Jasper? Did you leave your room to go to my room, get my keys and come down here to try and sneak out so you could drive my car?" All the while I had been lifting my keys out of his pocket, with him looking rather sheepish.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I'm sorry, alright? But there is a Porsche Panamera Turbo sitting in that garage and it is calling to me! So please, please, please, can I have this one ride?" He clasped his hands together, begging me to let him do it. I sighed in defeat. I held up the keys on one finger.

"One ride. Stay in state limits."

"Yes! Thank you so much Ellie!" He took the keys and ran outside. "Best cousin ever!" he shouted before riding away in _my_ car. Alice came down the stairs.

"You handed over the keys didn't you?" she asked me.

"As if you don't know." I turned back to the living room, but stopped and turned to look at her. "Is he going to stay within state limits?"

"No," she said simply. I sighed and hung my head. "Regretting it?"

"Yes. Very much so."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Once Jasper arrived back, I sped out to check if the car was okay, all the while, he was leaning against the garage wall. Once I was finished my survey I started walking back to the house, with Jasper on my tail.

"So, is everything satisfactory?" he asked cockily. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

"Yes, I suppose. Except for where you went. I have information that you went to Oregon City. Would that information be correct?" He looked at me, dumbstruck. Evidently, he thought his wife would cover for him. He thought wrong.

"I can't believe it. I was tattled on by my own wife! That's not fair," he said pointing at me. I smirked. "And that's evil!" Carlisle came out before I could respond.

"If you two are done, we could use you in here. We're about to have a meeting." Jasper and I shot a glare at each other, but then followed all the same. Everyone was congregated in the dining room, sitting around the table.

Carlisle had just taken his place at the head of the table, with Esme on his right. To his left was Edward with Nessie on his lap and Bella beside him. Sitting beside Esme was Alice and Jasper beside her. Emmett sat next to Jazz, across from Rose. I sat next to Bella, in between her and Rosalie. Though they were on speaking terms, there was still a slight grudge coming from Rose. Looking around the table, I had a sudden flashback of something from when I was sixteen.

_Du Bois Household, Paris, 1737_

_Sitting in that room was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my existence. Sitting with me was my mother and little sister, Nathalie, who was thirteen years of age at the time. Around the room were more wives and children of Le Société de l'Homme: The Man's Society. Otherwise known as the wealthiest men in Paris who got together once a week and gambled. Usually, the children of the members were not allowed to attend, unless it was to be held in their home, so none of the younger people in the room knew each other. Though, tonight was special, so we were allowed to attend. _

_Tonight, I was being introduced to my future husband, Monsieur Olivier Pierre Du Bois, a man who was already eighteen years of age. I had heard of him, though we had never met. I prayed that he would not be a mean, crude young man, like a few of my friends had already been betrothed to. Apparently, he went to the school that I attended, though he would leave in little under a year, seeing as the school had just ended the summer term. Soon, the door to the ballroom swung open and the music ceased. _

_"Présantant," the doorman called, "Monsieur et Madame Du Bois." __Pierre and Alexandrie Du Bois entered the room together, greeting everyone as they made their way over to us. The two women greeted each other and then started talking excitedly about Olivier's appearance and our match. All too soon, the doors swung open again. _

_"Présantant Monsieur Olivier Pierre Du Bois." A young man with dark brunette hair and startling grey eyes entered the room, greeting the men and women that made gestures of greeting towards him with a dazzling smile. Soon, his mother called him over to us and he complied. He walked over, still receiving greetings from those around him. Finally, he arrived in front of us, looking at me with those penetrating eyes._

_"Olivier, this is Madame Le Beau. These are her daughters, Mademoiselle Nathalie and Mademoiselle Chanelle." My sister and I curtsied as he bowed. _

_"Ladies, never have I been in the company of two young women who were quite as beautiful as you." He meant it to both of us, but was still looking at me. I had most definitely seen him around the school before. My sister did not seem phased by his comment at all, though I suspected this was because she was not the one who was going to marry him someday. I smiled at him and he returned it._

_Soon we were sat around the table for dinner. I was sat across from Olivier, next to my sister. All through dinner, we didn't say a word to each other, but we snuck glances through our lashes, smiling slightly at each other when we were caught. It was the start of our relationship._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Chanelle? Chanelle?" I could hear Carlisle calling my name from the end of the table. I blinked a few times to see everyone looking at me. My eyes rested on Edward because he was looking at me the funniest.

"Did you just see that?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. What was that?"

"The first flash back I've had in about one hundred years." Now everyone was looking at me funny. "It's when I get a flash of something that happened when I was human. That's the second I've had in my existence."

"What was your first flash?" Rose asked me. I looked at her sheepishly.

"When I was getting my tattoo," I smiled. Emmett laughed and clapped his hands. Carlisle looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"A tattoo?" they asked at the same time, Carlisle more agitated.

"Yeah. I got it when I was seventeen. Kind of rebelling against my parents. Olivier was impressed." I grinned widely and leaned back in my chair.

"What is it?" Carlisle asked incredulously.

"_Where_ is it?" Emmett asked excitedly. I sighed.

"A Fleur de Lis on my right hip. That's why you never knew about it," I added to Carlisle. I sighed again. "Now, I'm sorry that happened, but this was meant to be a meeting, so let's get on with it." I sat back and let Carlisle take charge. He cleared his throat and began.

"Alright, well, we all know that we are moving on soon." We all nodded. "Some of us are staying behind, by their own choice." I turned to smile at Bella, and put a hand on her shoulder. Though we didn't talk much, we were still friends on some level and I would miss her.

"We will come back someday, and we'll visit," Edward announced. Emmett was looking at them desperately.

"So, you three aren't coming with us?" he asked sadly.

"No, Emmett," Edward answered. "We have our own family, our own house. It would only be fair that we lived in it for the time being. Plus, while Nessie grows, she and Jacob will want to be nearer." Rosalie groaned. "Next time you move, possibly we will join you. But, for now, you're going to have to put up with wrestling with Jasper." Emmett crossed his arms and slouched in his seat, pouting. Rose ended the silence that we were stuck in.

"So, where are we going?" she asked.

"To Maine. A little town called New Hall. It's small enough, and the city next to it has a hospital that's only ten miles away. There's a school in the town too, so there's not much commute." He went to the shelf behind him and collected some papers. He brought them back and dished them out. "This is your new school. Now, it's public, but there is a uniform, though there are a lot of non-uniform days." I smiled at the thought of wearing a uniform. Jazz and Edward looked at me.

"You're liking the thought of the uniform?" they asked me incredulously.

"I haven't been to school in over two hundred years. Cut me some slack here, guys," I snapped. "Anyway, having a uniform gives you an outline on what your final design is going to look like," I grinned, flashing a look at Alice. Without looking in it, I could tell the cogs were winding in her mind already, contemplating outfits to wear to school.

"Alright. You took that better than I though you would. Moving on…" He got more papers: five manila files with about ten pieces of paper in them. "Your transcripts. Chanelle, yours are all fake, but I know that you could do all the things in them. The name's okay isn't it?" he asked me. I took out the first paper: my personal information. I looked it over.

_Chanelle Séléne Cullen_

_Date of Birth: 10/31/92_

_Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana_

_Previous School: Home-Schooled_

_Parent/Guardian: Carlisle CullenRelationship: Brother _

_School Record_

_English: A_

_Math: A_

_Biology: A_

_Chemistry: A_

_French: A+_

_History: A+_

_Health: A_

_Physical Education: A_

"It's perfect. Like old times." I smiled. _It figures that I get A+'s in those two subjects._

"Since you've still got a slight twang, and whole 'Cajun' thing works. Home-schooled is logical so they won't look for you in other school databases. And straight A's, well, it's just fun to make you a nerd." He laughed and I pinched him with my mind. He reacted like a human would to getting pinched, and rubbed it. I smiled at him waved for him to carry on.

"Alright, the grades you're going to be in. Alice…" he veered off towards the end, unsure if she knew what he was going to say. She held her hands up, smiling.

"I know. I'm going to be the baby of the five. It's fine."

"You're sure? You always have been, so I thought you might like a change or something," Carlisle asked, unsure.

"No. It's fine. It gives me one more year to make a uniform fashionable." She smiled serenely. _Always the silver lining_ I thought. Carlisle smiled.

"That means that the rest of you will start out as juniors. Any questions about it?"

Emmett spoke up. "Yeah. Why do I have a B in health?"

"Because that's what you got in health," Carlisle stated simply. I had to try and hold in my laughter, as did Jasper and Edward. Rose glared at the lot of us, understanding that if the joke was aimed at Emmett, that it was aimed at her too.

"What classes will we have together?" Jasper asked.

"In each of your classes there will be one of the others. For example, in English you could have one of you, or all of you. It just depends. Though, Alice…" Carlisle trailed off.

"I know, I know. I'll not have anyone. That's fine." Alice, being the youngest out of us all, would be the one who could put up with being in a younger year than the rest of us.

"Any more questions?" Carlisle asked. No one said anything. "Great, so, you're free to go. Thank you." We all left the dining room, off to do what we wanted, which for most of us was hunting, but not me. I headed up to my room, before Alice called my name. I turned around mid-step, and smiled at her.

"Hi. _Comment __ça__va__?_" I asked her.

"Fine, thank you. Can we talk, please?" she asked hesitantly. I nodded and we headed into the living room, while everyone else was retreating into the forest. We sat in silence for a moment, before I broke it.

"Alice? Is everything alright?" I asked concerned. The look on her face made me truly worried for her. She looked like she had seen the end of the world as we knew it.

"Yes, well… no? I don't know. I just want to make sure of something." She paused, contemplating her words. To give her some privacy, I put up my mental shield. "Alright. Do you—do you like Jasper as more than… um… a friend?" she asked quietly, looking at her shoes. I almost laughed at the thought.

"No! No, not at all. God, I am already trying to deal with leaving the man down in the south that I left to come here—not that we were anything serious—so, no. I am very much not in love with your husband. We are just friends. I will never love him, and he will never love me. Trust someone that has a look into his mind every day: he only has, and will always only have, eyes for you," I said to her seriously. She looked up to me, searching my eyes, as if she were looking for the truth. Soon she reached over and hugged me. I hugged her back, and soon she let go. She laughed slightly.

"I was really stupid to think that, wasn't I? To doubt him like that?" she asked.

"Yes, you were. I would never, and neither would he." I hugged her again, and we laughed at her stupidity. "Now, I happen to know that he is waiting at the other side of the river, so don't keep him waiting." I smiled and let her go. She ran to the door, but stopped there.

"Chanelle?" she asked. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Thank you." She smiled and went. I sighed and walked up stairs. I went and sat at my newly acquired desk. In the small dark oak drawers of the desk, I looked through the letters and envelops from the past one hundred and fifty years, each with the space of about two years between each send. It was about time I sent one.

I took out a new sheet of parchment and my quill, which I only used for this kind of letter. I started writing.

_Dear Felix…_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Ohhh… she's got some secrets. Alright, I'm attaching a picture of Chanelle's car and a picture of Olivier. I hope you like! If the pictures don't show up, message me! **

CAR: .

OLIVIER : /images/young_man_


	6. And a Song Someone Sings

5- And a Song Someone Sings

It was now November, and we were getting ready to move. The things we weren't going to be using in the next month or so got packed away in boxes. That meant that Alice went through everyone's wardrobes and made outfits for a month in advance. That took her a whole day to do. She found it very entertaining to go through mine, something that—surprisingly—she hadn't done yet.

As she was going through it, she wandered into the inner depths of the room. She passed all of the things from the nineties to the nineteen-twenties, laughing a little at some of the more out-there things I had accumulated. She stopped at the very end of my closet, and gasped. She called me in to look at what she had found, and I complied. I found where she was standing in front of and smiled slightly.

She was standing in front of the many dresses, gowns, and frocks I had acquired from the early seventeen-hundreds to the middle of the eighteen hundreds. They ranged from different styles, different colours, different fabrics and different lengths. Alice looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"Why didn't you tell me you had these?" she asked quietly. I shrugged.

"I forgot about them. I haven't worn some of them in centuries." I looked at them in more detail, touching a few of them, memories flooding back. Soon, my hands found a royal blue dress, with a large skirt that had flowed behind me and puffy sleeves. I smiled and took it off the rack, holding it to my body. By now Rose, Esme and Bella had joined us and were marvelling at the dresses.

"That one seems important to you," Esme stated. I smiled and nodded, spinning, enjoying the fabric dancing around my ankles. "Might I enquire as to why?" she asked. I laughed slightly.

"It was the dress I wore to the first ball I went to as a vampire, with Carlisle. It was basically a test, to see how I did. The story around Paris was that Carlisle and his sister Chanelle Cullen were from England, and had moved from London. Chanelle was much better at speaking French than her brother, and held up much of the conversation. Being the most beautiful young woman in the room, Chanelle had to dance with every eligible bachelor in the room. She found it quite hard," I smiled, and realised I had slipped into using the third person. "If you ask Carlisle, he will give you minute-by-minute review of the night. But all in all, the dress brings back good memories." I put it back and left them to look through my history. Bella emerged first. Not surprising, really; fashion was not her first love. She just looked at me.

"You really have been around for a long time," she breathed. I shrugged.

"Two hundred and eighty-eight years is not much in retrospect to what I will be around for. But, in your mind, I have been around for a long time, yes." I smiled and made my way down stairs. Emmett and Jasper were at a game and Carlisle was at work. Renesmee was in La Push, much to Rose's dislike. Edward was downstairs with his piano, playing a tune I had heard before. I smiled as I reached the bottom of the stairs and made my way over to the doorway to the piano room and leaned against it with me arms crossed. He smiled over at me and then went back to reading the music; he was trying to learn it, and had obviously not looked at it before now, which didn't surprise me. He finished the verse he was on and stopped, looking up at me.

"What do you have there?" I asked him, though I knew the answer.

"I got sent this when I… left Bella. I didn't look at it then, because at the time I wasn't playing, and I put it in a box. I was looking through the box this morning and I found it, deciding to give it a go. It's quite a beautiful song." He paused, looking through the music sheets. "The thing that intrigued me was that it was sent to the address in Alaska where I was at the time. It was quite strange, because it could be anyone I knew from school trying to do a good deed—though I hadn't gotten any music before—and no one else knew we went there." He sighed. "It's an unsolved mystery." I smiled, partly happy that his rambling was over.

"Does this song have lyrics?" I asked once he was finished.

"Yes. Would you like to see?"

"No, it's fine. Play and I think I'll be able to get it." He raised an eyebrow at me but saw that I was deadly serious. He shrugged and started playing. Soon, the melody had filled the room. I waited until the first verse was finished and I started singing.

"You use to captivate me by your resonating light

Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me.

"These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase.

"When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me."

Edward stopped playing and looked at me in disbelief. _How could she know that song? I got it in the mail. _I decided to answer his thoughts.

"I've never had a knack for putting musical notes together, but I do have a way with words. Thomas worked in a Jazz Club before he was changed, and was very good with composing. Surprisingly enough, Carlisle and I _did _communicate when we didn't see each other. I heard what happened and started writing. I actually came up to Forks myself, to see how Bella was, though I had never met her; I had a feeling I would know her when I saw her, and I most certainly did. I wanted to write something that you would someday play when you were together again—because I never doubted for a second that you wouldn't be—and see the situation from each other's perspective.

"I still think that you were the biggest idiot on the planet for doing that. I even called Carlisle a few times to try and talk sense into you, but you were off somewhere," I explained. While I was talking about what happened, I could hear the guilty thoughts coming from his brain. I walked over to him, taking the music sheets from in front of him. He looked at me in confusion, but said nothing. I got a pen from my room, and wrote _by Chanelle Séléne Le Beau. _I handed it back to him and went back upstairs, to find out how many of my gowns were out of my closet, leaving behind a satisfied Edward.

o-o-o-o

_I am so lucky I have both speed and telekinesis _I thought to myself after hours of us girls going through my dresses, trying them on and getting opinions. We kept the men out; this was a woman only thing. I kept my gate up so that Edward could see nothing from me, and Bella put a shield around the rest of them. Absolutely no male opinions were allowed, not even when Emmett wanted to see so much that he nearly broke down my door, leaving a crack in it. _I have to think of a way to get back at him for that one…_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A few weeks past and I got a letter from Felix. Luckily no one was in, so I could hide it easily enough.

I had noticed that Nessie didn't eat any human food, though she could. It puzzled me why she wouldn't, because I slightly remembered that I had a deep addiction to chocolate when I was younger. I had also noticed that most girls these days ate vast amounts of chocolate.

While downstairs watching a documentary with Jasper, I was also semi-listening to Edward and Carlisle's conversation about Nessie's eating habits. They were talking about how Edward and Bella had tried to get her to eat normal human food, but nothing worked. But I saw the flaw: they were using all goddamn healthy food! All they had tried was fruit and vegetables. I was trying to concentrate on the television, but it was hard.

_"Are you alright?" _Jasper thought to me.

_"No. The conversation upstairs is insufferable! There is another option but they are overlooking it." _

_"Then go up there and kick ass with your idea!" _he shouted as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

_"I'll go if it gets too bad." _

I got to fifty-four seconds. Pretty good considering my record.

"Ugh! This is insufferable!" I grumbled and made my way up to Carlisle's study. Not bothering to knock, I opened the door and stood there with my hands on my hips, head tilted to the side.

"Hello Chanelle," Carlisle said with an easy smile. "Is there something I can do you for?"

"You two are going about this all wrong. Do you want her to be an actual vegetarian? Because she's going to be if you keep it up." They looked at me blankly. I sighed. "What sort of blood does she usually go for?" I asked Edward.

"Sweet blood. She doesn't like big game for now. She just sticks to the elk that run around," he shrugged.

"Your daughter has a sweet tooth. If you're going to get anywhere with her and eating human food, you're going to have to try real sugar," I explained.

"No. I don't want her having sugar," he shook his head. I chuckled.

"It's not as if she's going to get fat or erode her teeth is it? Just give it a try. I'll even make something." both men looked at me funny. "What? I can cook. Desserts mostly, but the rest I'm okay at." Carlisle raised an eyebrow at me.

"How are your cakes?" he asked. It was now my turn to look at him.

"Exceptional," I answered.

"Crème Brule?"

"Delicious."

"Pastries?"

"Gorgeous."

"Soufflés?"

"Exquisite." I smiled. He chuckled.

"Well then, you can try one of them for Nessie." He turned to his son. "Edward, it's worth a shot."

Edward sighed. "I suppose it is. We can try it tomorrow."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I am warning you now: either of you come near that kitchen, I swear I will light your pieces. Do I make myself quite clear?" I asked sternly. Emmett and Jasper were sat on the couch in front of me, with me standing up with my hands on my hips. They were looking up at me like kindergarten kids who are being told not to cause trouble today, which, in a way, they were.

"Of course we won't, Ellie," Jasper assured me. Him I was sure about, Emmett… not so sure. I turned to him; he could tell that I could see what was going through his mind. He smiled and held his hands up.

"Alright, alright. None of my brilliant plans will be put to action." He was telling the truth. I turned towards the kitchen and started towards it, throwing one last glare at them before I entered.

"She could make Godzilla run for the hills," I heard Emmett mutter to Jasper once I left the room. Jasper roared with laughter. I smirked and set to work: making a chocolate soufflé for a half vampire child. Hmm, it sounds completely unnatural when you say it to your self.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"There! Fini! Allons enfant," I called to Nessie. She ran through to the kitchen and I hoisted her up onto the counter. I brought the soufflé over to her and held it in front of her.

"Honey, I just want you to smell it for now, okay? Tell me what you think of it." I held it up to her nose and she sniffed. She made an unsure face.

"It's okay. It's quite an odd smell, but it's not off-putting," she stated in her cute voice of hers. I smiled at her.

"That's good. Do you want to try some?" I asked her, unsure if she would want to. To my surprise, she nodded. I brought the spoon up to her lips. "Careful, it's hot," I cautioned before she ate it. She mulled it about on her tongue, savouring the taste, before swallowing. Her thoughts about it were confusing, so I stayed out. "How is it?" I asked.

"It's good. I mean, blood's a bit better, but this is a nice change. Can I finish it?" she asked. Edward and Bella had appeared at the door. I looked at them.

"Well parents, can she finish it?" I asked them. They looked at each other before Edward nodded. Nessie smiled and I gave her the plate. She skipped off to the living room with it and Edward came up to me.

"Thank you, Chanelle. At least now we know one sort of food she will actually like." He smiled.

"Well, maybe you could try cooked meat. You know, like a rare steak. You can see if that works someday."

"Yes. It would be quite good if she wasn't just eating candy," he chuckled and went to join the rest of them in the living room. I used my mind to clean up, putting the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and turning it on. All the while I was thinking of the last time I used that recipe. It was in Paris in 1738, for Olivier. Oh, how I wished I could see him again. Though memories had faded, the feelings had not. If granted one wish, it would be to be at his side once again, but that would never happen. That is a fact I have faced up to for two and a half centuries. I choked back a dry sob as someone came into the kitchen and wrapped their arms around me, whispering words to sooth me. Carlisle. I would always be able to tell it was him. I calmed my breathing and reared my head back. He let go of me and put his hands of each side of my face, looking into my eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked me quietly. I nodded my head and sighed.

"I'm an idiot," I said. He shook his head.

"No, you most certainly are not an idiot."

"I am! I'm as close to crying as I can get over a man that has been dead for over two centuries! Of course I am!"

"No. you loved him. That bond cannot be broken over any amount of time," he said earnestly. I realised that he was right. I sighed and looked at the floor.

"I miss him so much, Carlisle. You have no idea," I whispered.

"I know I don't. But I can try to understand how you're feeling. True, that's Jasper's area of expertise, but this is a brother's job." I smiled up at him. He held his hand out to me, which I took and he guided me up to my room. We sat on the bed, each leaning against one end of it with the other's feet on you laps. "So tell me what's going on inside that head of yours."

And I did.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**I am so so so so so sorry for not updating!!! Ugh, I have been so busy with going away, being busy there and having literally no time to write, then I have to catch up on school that I missed, which was a lot, then, my computer decided to crash and then I couldn't get logged on here. So yeah, all in all, not a great few weeks. But I am back and hopefully going to get back into the swing of things soon. Promise!**

**Cora **


	7. Once Upon a December

6-Once Upon a December

Moving day was tomorrow. By now almost everything was already half-way to New Hall, being driven there by Emmett and Carlisle. We hired the moving vans and they set off yesterday to set up the house. Today was a sunny but cold day, with the snow spread evenly on the ground, so we couldn't go anywhere anyway. We couldn't feel the cold, so we were all outside doing something.

Rosalie had decided to do some tinkering with Edward and Bella's cars before we set off, and was absorbed in that. Esme was sat in the back yard, thinking of how her colour scheme would work in her and Carlisle's new room. I could tell that they were going to be fantastic. Part of that was because Alice had a vision of how it would look but swore Edward and I to secrecy. The rest of us were participating in what I thought was the longest snowball fight that had ever been fought. We had been at it for going on ten hours, but it never got old. I must admit, being able to tip snow over a certain blonde vampire was very entertaining, especially once you see his face. Laughing at my best friend was very good medicine. Nessie had us all make snow angels after about five hours, and they had now all been covered over. Soon though, she was going to have to go to bed, once we had all said goodbye to each other.

That was the hardest thing about splitting up the family: everyone's memories had been with at least one other. Carlisle and Edward's goodbye was one that they conducted in private, which I thought was right. They were the foundations of the family, father and son, and they were right to say goodbye alone. Emmett was another story. He decided to write a poem for Edward and Bella, and what a production that was. He gathered everyone in the dining room, and then launched into this whole rhyming speech about sports that they had played, schemes that they had carried out and threw in a bit at the end about his and Bella's sex life, which I soon learned was a very bad thing to do, because Bella was fuming in her seat next to me. I myself found it quite funny. Soon those two left with most of our furniture with them, leaving us with the five cars that we were taking and the furniture we weren't keeping. Edward and Bella were told that they would have to make the decision whether or not to sell the big house or move into it themselves, but they didn't know yet what they should do.

Right now, it was about six at night; the sun was down, the moon was out, and we were dumping large masses of snow on each other. Right then, Rose was about finished playing, and an extremely evil thought evolved in my mind at the moment I was about to throw a heap of snow each at Edward and Jasper. I threw the one at Jazz, but once I saw the smirk on Edward's face after hearing my thoughts, I halted my attack on him and went around the house with my heap of snow that was meant for him, Edward behind me with his own heap, and everyone else looking at us funny. True, we were hunched over sneaking around the house sides, but that didn't mean they had to stare! Soon we were around at the garage and Rose was closing the hood on Edward's Aston Martin. We took our time to strike. We ran into the garage, snow hoisted above our heads, and launched it at her. Once it made contact with her, she froze in her place. Edward and I didn't move either, waiting on her reaction. She let out a sharp breath, turning to face us, and greeting us with a death glare only Rosalie could give out.

"There's snow in my hair," she serenely. The kind of serene that makes you fear for your life. Of course the first thing my best friend notices is that she has snow in her hair. Typical Rose. Edward was fighting a smile, and if he opened his mouth to say anything then he would break. He was also screaming at me in his head not to say anything. But he should have known that I never follow other people's wishes.

"Well, you still have oil on your hands. Now it'll be easier to clean them," I said in a neutral voice. Edward looked at me as if I was crazy. Rose's nostrils flared, and soon we were running away from her back around the side of the house, all the while I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Help! Rosalie's on the warpath! DUCK AND COVER!" I screamed as we ran into the garden. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at what I was screaming about. Once they saw Rosalie's sopping wet hair, they burst into a fit of laughter, which did not improve her attitude. I turned to her and started running backwards. "Hey Rose, wouldn't you just love it if Emmett could see you looking this fierce? I think he would get as turned on as he was last night. I think that the Denali coven could hear you last night!" I shouted out to her. That was a big mistake. The sentiment 'Oh crap, I'm dead' doesn't even begin to cover it. She sped up to maximum speed and caught up to me, rubbing her oily hands all over my back, turning my coat back, making Alice scream and Jasper fall over from laughing. Alice kicked him for that, which I thought was fair game. Rose and I stopped running and faced each other. We smiled and laughed.

"I guess we're even now," Rose laughed.

"I suppose we are," I returned, and we hugged each other in a fit of giggles. I pulled her by her hand, not caring if mine got messed up, and pulled her to the fight.

o-o-o-o

Once it was eight at night, Nessie was flagging and we decided to stop. Edward and Bella took her back to their cottage to get her to sleep and then were going to come over once they were sure she was alright, to say goodbye. Once the rest of us got into the big house, Rose and I went to get a shower and get all the oil that was now in each of our hair and our hands. I, of course, was first back downstairs, but I hadn't dried mine and let it air dry. Jasper and Alice were playing poker with Esme as the dealer. It was quite interesting to watch; Alice was using her abilities to see what cards Jasper had, and he was changing her emotions to make her want to give up her cards. I watched for a while, reminiscing with vague memories of my father's gambling. After a while, the phone rang. Since they were still in their game, I got up and answered it, realising that it was Edward.

"Hello, Edward. Is everything all right?" I asked him, wondering why he and Bella were not yet here.

"I'm afraid not, Chanelle. Renesmee really is too smart. We've been trying to keep her calm until the morning, but she knows that you will all be leaving soon, and will not sleep. We've tried everything we can think of, even lullabies from our childhood. We wondered if you could think of anything?" he asked. I thought it over. Memories from my childhood were a bit sketchy, seeing as they were human memories. Then I thought of something. The music box. It was one of the things I hadn't packed away in a box; it was coming in the car with me. I smiled.

"I have an idea. I will by at your home in two minutes." I put down the phone and fetched my music box from my room with my mind. I went through to the living room where they were playing. "Hey, I have to go to Edward's and Bella's for a while. I'll be back in about half an hour. Y'all alright with that?" I asked them.

"Yes. What's going on over there?" Esme asked in a motherly tone. I smiled at her, but I didn't get a chance to answer, since Miss Future did it for me.

"Nessie can't sleep and they've tried everything, so they asked Chanelle if she had any ideas," she told her, then turned to me. "You're idea will work. I can see it. And it's a lovely lullaby. I'm sure it would send any child in history to sleep," she smiled at me, and I smiled back. It was touching to hear her say that, since it was the one my mother sang to me. The music box now lowered into my hands and I made my way to the cottage. I ran to the river and jumped it, not being able to do anything fancy because of the precious cargo in my hands.

Within two minutes I was at their doorstep and I could hear Bella trying to put down an upset child. Edward must have heard my thoughts and came to the door before I got to the house. He opened it and let me in. Bella had Nessie on her lap on the sofa, rocking her soothingly while murmuring things in her ear. Bella acknowledged my presence with a quick glance up at me, and once the front door was closed Nessie looked up too. She smiled and ran to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I lifted her off the ground and held her, stroking her hair. Edward went to sit next to his wife while I sat on the single seat with Nessie on my lap. She took her head out of the crook of my neck after a while, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Aunt Chan, I don't want any of you to go. Grandpa and Uncle Emmett are gone, and you're all going tomorrow. I don't want it," she cried. I smiled sadly at me.

"I know, honey. But this is something that has to happen. People must move on; see new places and meet new people. But those people never forget the ones they have already met, especially the ones they love. Sweets, you will always be able to talk to us, wherever we may be and whatever we are doing, we will talk to you anytime you want to. And that will never change," I told her. She sniffed a bit and rubbed her face with the back of her hand.

"Really?" she asked me.

"Really really." I smiled at her, and at the others. They smiled back at me, a silent thank you coming from Bella.

"_You take her to bed, Chanelle. Thank you," _Edward told me. I nodded and carried her to her room, taking the music box with me. I set the music box down next to the bed and tucked her in, sitting on the edge. She looked at the box curiously.

"What's that?" she asked. I smiled at her.

"This is a very special box. I've had this since I was three years old, which was in 1724. My mother used the music from this box and a song to send me to sleep every night, even when I was seventeen years old. Shut your eyes, _petites fees_." I opened the top of the grand piano, and soon the song from my mortal dreams filled the air.

"_Dancing bears_

_Painted wings_

_Things I almost remember_

_And a song someone sings_

_Once upon a December._

"_Someone holds me safe and warm_

_Horses prance through a silver storm_

_Figures dancing gracefully _

_Across my memory._

"_Far away_

_Long ago_

_Burning soft as an ember_

_And a song someone sings_

_Once upon a December."_

I looked over to Nessie, who's eyes were now closed as the last notes from the piano ended, my hazy memories coming to a close. I quietly closed the lid and stood up, kissing her lightly on the forehead. I left the room silently, closing the door behind me. I let out a slightly shaky breath, knowing that it had been about two hundred and fifty years since I had heard that song, let alone sung it. I walked through to the living room and sat down in the seat I had vacated five minutes ago, meeting the eyes of Edward and Bella. They were just smiling, which was surprising. I had been spending a lot of time with their daughter, and I thought they may have felt as if I was stealing her from them, but I could see in their eyes that was not the case.

"We know you would never do that, Chanelle. Thank you for calming her," Edward said to me, reading my thoughts. "And that was truly a beautiful lullaby. From your childhood?" he added, and I nodded. "Beautiful."

"I translated it, so she could understand the words. It seemed logical," I said quietly. I smiled at them before standing, picking up the piano. "Come and see us tomorrow, if she's up to it. I'm sure everyone would like that."

"We will. We promise," Bella said. I nodded and left. I walked back to the house this time, enjoying the snow crinkling below my feet and the starlit sky. I wondered if the sky was this beautiful in New Hall. Thinking of the new place made me think of Carlisle, and I decided to call him and see how things were going. I took out my sleek black phone and pressed speed-dial number one, which he picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, Chanelle," he greeted me, and I could tell that he was smiling, either because I had good timing or bad timing.

"Hello. How is everything going over there?" I asked him. Suddenly I heard a loud crash from somewhere else in the house, and a loud 'sorry' shouted from the same place. I chuckled.

"Emmett's making sure all of the beds are assembled properly by flopping onto them. That one evidently wasn't." I laughed at the fact that it was Emmett that was testing the beds. "Tighten up the bolts on that one, Emmett," Carlisle said to him.

"So are you nearly finished?" I asked as I was about two minutes away from the river.

"Yes, everything's out. Your room is exactly the same, as promised. A good view, too. Mind you, all the rooms do." We continued chatting about the new house until I got to the lake and then I ran into the house, giving the phone to Esme, who, once she was finished, gave the phone to Rose so she could talk to Emmett. After they were done with their conversations, we had a night long marathon of poker, one where I was closely monitored to make sure my guard was up at all times. Maybe Edward always cheated and won every game. Something to ask him in the future.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Soon the sun was rising, and we cleared up the chips and cards. In the end it was Jasper who won, and he won five hundred dollars from us each, but let Alice off as long as she promised to make their next vacation away together very much worth it. I kept my gate up by my own free will after that promise was made. We made our way through to the garage and set up our phones to the Bluetooth system the cars had. Esme was driving Carlisle's Mercedes, Jasper was in Emmett's jeep while his bike was in one of the moving vans. The rest of us had our own, and I was quite happy that I was going to get to drive my baby cross-country. The sun was all the way up when we were finished, and we could see Edward and his family coming over the lake. Bella was holding Renesmee while they leaped over, and as soon as they were over, Nessie jumped out of her mother's arms and came running towards us, tackling Esme first. Bella and Edward were right behind her, coming up to hug someone. Bella went to Alice and Edward to Jasper. They said their goodbyes and went onto the next person. Edward came up to me.

"If you ever need any help with Nessie…" I said.

"I know who to call. If you ever need to talk about something that you've heard in someone's mind that you don't know what to do with…"

"I know who to call." I smiled. "Telepaths in arms." He laughed, and then hugged me.

"Thank you, Chanelle. For everything." He drew back and went to Rose. Bella came up to me.

"I'm going to miss you. You offer teasing material for everyone. You have the same ability as Edward and you use it completely differently," she stated and I smirked.

"He uses his powers like a superhero, and I use them like the bad guy," I answered. She looked at me funny, as if she was trying to remember something from a past life, which in a way it was. I smiled. "Ask Edward. I'm sure he'll jog your memory." I hugged her tight and let her go to Jasper. I now watched as Nessie went to Rose and Edward to Esme. I checked on the music box in the front seat of my car as I leaned against the side, seeing that it was securely strapped in. Soon I felt a small force hit into me and small arms wrap themselves around my hips. I looked down to Nessie encircling my waist. I knelt down to pick her up and held her.

"_Ne jamais avoir peur que vous n'aurez pas d'amour.__Il sera partout où vous allez," _I whispered in her ear, and she held onto me tighter. We stayed like that for a few more moments, until I realised that I had to go. I put her back on the ground and she ran to Edward. He picked her up and held her the way I had. I got in the car and started it, relishing the purr. I heard Edward groan slightly. I chuckled and stuck my head out of the window. "Edward, you know you're going to miss the Purr of the Porsche." He laughed and I waved goodbye. They waved also, and I could see the tears flowing down Nessie's cheeks. I blew them kisses and stuck my head back in the car. Esme left first, then Jasper, and then myself with Rose following after me and after her was Alice. We all drove out of the driveway and were soon on our way out of Forks. We followed Esme from here until we got to the US – 101. This was when we were all mean to call Esme. I pressed speed-dial number eight and waited for her to pick up; she picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, Chanelle. Alright, we're just waiting for Jasper to call and that's us all—" she broke off and I smirked. While she was talking I sent a 'mind message' (yeah, because that's the most sensible thing you could call it) to him that was quite strong worded about him calling Esme. I think it did the trick.

"Nice for you to join us, Jazz," I teased, and he thought very malicious things. I laughed and told Esme to carry on.

"From here we have to go to the SR – 104 east, then to the SR – 3, to the SR – 16. Then we go on the road to Seattle, and then we go on the SR - 18. Call again once we've passed here. I'll talk to you soon." We all hung up, and then sped up to one hundred and forty-five miles an hour. If we kept at this speed, we'd be where we had to call in an hour and thirty-five minutes. I put my music on, prepared to see what this car could do over long distance.

o-o-o-o

"Ellie, are you getting the vibe that we look like the auto bots from _Transformers_ when they are driving along?" Jasper asked me twenty minutes into our conversation. I could see where he was coming from; we were all driving in a straight line, switching lanes when the one in front of us did. I chuckled.

"I suppose. We do look a bit strange to passers-on, I'll tell you that."

"Yes, how can we not? All driving incredibly fast in good looking cars, switching lanes when the one in front does and with _one _of us wearing sunglasses, even when it's not sunny." Yes, alright, it was me wearing the sunglasses. But, really, they were new and I was breaking them in. I scowled.

"I like my sunglasses. They are nice sunglasses. I am keeping the sunglasses on my face. Do I make myself quite clear, Mr. Whitlock?" I growled over the phone; he stayed silent for a while, and I smirked, satisfied with myself.

"Yes, ma'am. sorry ma'am," he said after a few moments, his southern drawl becoming more prominent.

"I am glad to hear that," I said in mock seriousness, but then ruined it by laughing. I turned up the radio when a very old song came on. "Jazz, can you remember this one?" I turned it up loud enough that Jasper could hear it over the phone. Soon I heard him laughing.

"That is extremely old! When was that, about 1952? Wow, they must be desperate on that station."

o-o-o-o

The rest of the ride carried on the same. Calls to everyone and meaningless chat. That was, until night time set. On the road there were no other cars around for miles, so we decided to have some fun. Rose, Alice and I put the tops down on our cars, and careered full speed down the road.

"Show-offs!" Jasper called to us, and we just laughed at him. He then put his iPod on full volume on the song _"Driving With the Top Down" _from _Ironman. _That made us laugh even more. The rest of that night, we were all doing tricks in our cars, bar Esme, who took it upon herself to supervise and give scores. In the end it was Alice who won, because she had the smallest car.

"Alright everyone. ETA is around twenty hours going at the speed we are at. Have fun from here," she called. And like the good kids we were, we did what we were told.

o-o-o-o

The journey ended up taking eighteen hours, thanks to our speed increasing something chronic. We got to New Hall at about four on a Saturday afternoon. For such a small town, everyone was on the main street; families, elderly people, children and teenagers. So all were there to see the five ostentatious vehicles drive into town. By now I had put the top back up on my car, as had Alice, but Rose still had hers down, flaunting her good looks to every man with working eyes.

"Careful, Rose. You could be the foundation of a break-up if you're not careful," I teased over the phone.

"No, thank you. I am happily married three times over and I don't go for humans," she replied. "And, excuse me, but _you_ could start a break-up too if you took the top down off you car," she told me, and I stayed silent. I knew I was nowhere near as beautiful as Rosalie Hale, even though I was a vampire. I just looked down at the steering wheel, ignoring the people staring at the cars and Rose. "Oh no. Don't you get that look on your face. You are beautiful and you know it," she said with finality. Conversation ceased after that statement as we drove through the little town to our new home. Soon we reached a forest and I realised that this house was as secluded as the last. We drove on the pebble road to come to a clearing at the edge of a cliff, and to see our mansion there. The house was three stories and had a Victorian style thanks to the beams and the bay windows. It had a little one story house off to the side that had been converted into a garage. We all parked in there and got out to see Emmett and Carlisle coming out the house to greet us. The two men went to their wives to greet them as I walked over to Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie were still locked in each others embrace when Carlisle came over to see me.

"Hello," he greeted me and I kissed his cheek. He motioned to the house. "So, what do you think?"

"I think it's great. And huge! Though I should have realised you would go for something big. Because that's just you, isn't it?" I asked sarcastically. He looked at me.

"Well, we couldn't have a French aristocrat's daughter living in a shack, now could we?" he shot back. There were laughs behind us from Emmett and Jasper, commenting on how our humours bounced off each other. I told Carlisle and Emmett to show us around the house, which they did. As we went in the front door, the first thing I saw was this gorgeous oak staircase leading up to the second and third floor in the middle of the house. The floor matched the dark shade the oak had and the walls were a delicate cream colour. The rest of the first floor flared out from it, with the living room and dining room at the front left and right of the open-plan floor and the kitchen at the back. I wondered what the other part of the floor was used for and walked through. On a platform in the middle of the room, was a white ivory grand piano with a white ivory seat and red velvet cushioning. I stood in the doorway, stunned at the sight. It was an exact copy of my music box. I heard footsteps approach and turned around to see Carlisle and Esme walking towards me, smiling. I smiled at them and hugged them once they we close enough. I let them go and just flipped my vision back and forth between them, wondering why. Soon, Esme spoke.

"We thought this would be something nice for you. In Forks you were using Edward's a lot, and we didn't want to loose the music," she smiled at me.

"But you have all given me so much already. This is too much," I tried to argue, but Carlisle stopped me.

"Well it's too late now. It's too big to fit out the door since the man came and assembled it in here. You have no choice," he smiled cockily, and I gave up, hugging them once more. Once I let them go, Carlisle kissed Esme and took my hand, leading me out the room. "Come on, I'll lead you to your room." We took off up the stairs to the third floor and turned right to the end of the hallway. I opened the door to find my room in the exact state it was in Forks, except the bathroom and closet were in a different place. I turned to Carlisle and smiled.

"It's perfect. I love it."

"Good, I'm glad. Meeting in the dining room in an hour to discuss you all going to school next week. And you and Alice can reveal your big secret concerning it. We're all a bit scared," he whispered the last part.

"Really scared!" I heard Emmett and Jasper shout from somewhere else in the house and laughed.

"Really scared," Carlisle corrected himself. "An hour downstairs, okay?" I nodded and he left.

o-o-o-o

After an hour was up we were all in the dining room. Carlisle was going over the fact that the school term had started on the Thursday and we would be starting on the Monday. He started to explain the school uniform when I butted in.

"That is where Alice and I come in," I said and Alice disappeared momentarily. "You've all been dying to know what Alice and I have been whispering in corners and running off to do for quite some time and it's time we told you. Ever since we found out there was going to be a uniform, we have been coming up with ideas for uniforms. Guys, you were hard to do because you can't be as versatile as us, though you will look good." Just then Alice came through with five clothing bags and laid them down on the table. We opened Jasper's first and Alice explained.

"Jazz, you have a white shirt with a mandarin collar. You won't have a tie but you don't need one; it's not school regulation. With this you will be wearing black pants and black leather shoes." She handed over his clothes and he smiled, trying to visualise what it would look like on him in his head. I flashed the image of the sketch into his mind and he smiled thankfully at me, liking the look of it. We moved onto Emmett.

"Emmett you are more of a laid back person, so you are going to be quite traditional. A blue collar shirt and tie with the top button undone and your tie a little loose. Beige pants and brown loafers will go with that. You and Jasper are just getting a little bit of originality and both of these combinations and within school regulation and are worn by students. We've checked," I said and smiled, handing over Emmett's things. Rose was more eager to look at it than him and nodded in approval. Next was her outfit.

"Rose, we all know you are a classy girl so you need a classy outfit. A grey pencil skirt with a white three quarter sleeved satin blouse will look fantastic on you. With that you will be wearing grey three inch heels, again, within regulation." She smiled in anticipation as I handed over the bag. I looked to the top of the table to see Carlisle smiling at us.

"So if you did theirs, who did yours?" he asked us.

"Chanelle and I did each others. We don't even know what they look like," Alice gushed. "But, I want to see mine first," she smiled and I just laughed at her eagerness. I motioned for her to sit down and she did.

"Alright. For Alice I have chosen a blue blouse, tie and black three quarter-length sleeve cardigan with a black skirt that comes to mid-thigh. Not quite a miniskirt but close enough. Black tights and little black pixie boots will finish you off." I smiled and handed her the clothing bag. She took it and stood up to hug me. I hugged her back and laughed.

"I suppose that means you had a vision of what it looks like on you?" I asked her. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright, alright. I've seen mine, time for you to see yours." She motioned for my to sit, which I did and she clapped her hands. "Okay. You are going to be wearing a white silk blouse with puff sleeves that tie together at your wrists with a thin silk bow. You'll wear a tie and grey waistcoat. With that you'll wear high-waisted grey pants with black pinstripes and grey ankle boots with a two inch heal finishes it off," she smiled triumphantly at me and handed me the bag. I opened it and felt the sleek satin of the blouse and smiled and, as Alice did, hugged her. After we released each other from our embraces, we turned and sat in our seats. Carlisle had waited patiently for us to finish our presentation and carry on his instructions.

"Alright. Thank you, girls. We now know that everyone will look good, thanks to the fashion police," he teased, smirking. I rolled my eyes at him and motioned for him to carry on. "On Monday you will all go to school in Chanelle's car, but after tomorrow you can go in whatever car you please. You will have to go up to the office, hand over your transcripts and get your schedules. There are only six periods each day, but your subjects differ from day to day. Remember that it's cold weather right now so you will have to wear coats to keep up appearances." He turned to Esme. "Am I missing anything?" he asked her and she stood up.

"I just wanted to say that this time school doesn't have to be as boring. If you want, you can come out of your shells a little," she paused and smirked. "Live a little," she said and we snickered at the irony in the comment. I wasn't sure what these four were like in school, but by what Esme had said, I suppose that they are quite reserved. Then again, I thought that humans could be a little infuriating. I don't mean to say that I am prejudiced against them, but I hadn't been around them for a long time in a while, and it would take a little to get used to. Esme waved for us all to leave. We picked up our uniforms and started to leave when Alice raised her voice.

"Oh! I almost forgot! You don't have to wear these everyday. Just tomorrow and whenever else you want to. But, please, please, please… don't double wear! Even if you just change your shirt, please don't wear the same outfit two days in a row!" she was getting hysteric now, but then Jasper, our empathetic saviour sent calming waves to her. She calmed and sent us on our way. I floated up my outfit to my room, all the while heading out the back door, which was just a sheet of glass, as were the front doors. The bedroom and bathroom doors were glass with film over them so you couldn't see what was on the other side.

Once outside, I walked the ten feet to the cliffs edge, then lowered my self so I could climb to a ledge in the middle, about twenty feet down. Once there I sat down and just listened. Listened to the birds wings flapping, causing friction in the air. Listened to the waves crashing into the cliff, retracting, and repeating the process, as nature entailed. Listened to Emmett's stunned gasp when he saw a floating clothes bag behind him. I just sat on the ledge with my eyes closed, and listened to the world go by.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**I AM SOOOOOO SORRY!!!! No excuse but a thousand reasons. From family, to files, to crashes that started fears, to school, to holidays, to falls, to parties I haven't had any time, and for that, I give you all a piece of my head each, as a token of my apology.**

**Okay, some info about this chapter. Extra long, and some changes to real life. I'm not sure whether the two Porsches roofs **_**can **_**be put down, but it works for this. Also, song credits for this chapter and the last are: **_**My Immortal **_**by Evanescence and **_**Once Upon a December **_**from the film **_**Anastasia. **_

**Again, my humblest apologies, and my head is in the mail. ;-)**

**xoxo**

**Cora**


	8. Einstein's Theory of Relativity

7 – Einstein's Theory of Relativity

Monday came all too quickly for us. Though we were organised, we almost didn't want to go; we had all this free time on our hands these past months and then we had to go to school. Even with all of that, though, I was excited! No-one else understood it, but I hadn't been to a high school before and the idea had me feeling all giddy inside.

On the Monday morning, we all got ready in our new uniforms, and us girls did our hair and make-up. I went for some simple brown eyeliner and mascara, natural eye shadow and red lipstick. My hair was left to flow down my back with a few more curls added. Fetching my black knee-length double-breasted pea coat and putting on my boots, I grabbed my black leather messenger satchel and went downstairs. The boys were waiting in the living room for us, looking more than bored. Emmett was lying with his back on the seat and his legs in the air resting against the back of the sofa. Esme would scold him for sitting like that on her new sofa, but she was hurrying the other girls. Emmett turned his head to me.

"How come you girls take so long to get ready?" he asked incredulously.

"It takes time for us to get ready. We have to do our hair and make-up, and tomorrow we will have to think of what we are going to wear. You'll have to wait even longer," I smiled at him and he groaned, letting his head flop back on the seat. At that moment the girls came down the stairs. They looked fabulous, as ever, with Alice and Rosalie in their newly custom-made clothes. Emmett and Jasper got up and received their wives, commenting on how good they looked, leaving out the part about what they were saying about them five second ago. I grabbed the keys to my car and went towards the door, but Jasper got in the way.

"Can I drive?" he asked hopefully.

"No," I answered quickly, and he turned and walked out of the house to stand next to the car. I opened it and they all got in, waiting for me. I was about to go out the door before I heard my brother call my name from the stairs. I turned to see him walking down them towards me with a hand behind his back. I raised an eyebrow at him as he walked towards me and stopped in front of me.

"What are you hiding?" I asked him, and he took his hand from behind his back. On his palm rested a blue velvet box. I looked at him questioningly, and he opened it for me. Inside was a silver ring with the Cullen crest on it, the same one that everyone else had on them somewhere. I looked back up at him with wide eyes, but he just smiled.

"Welcome to the family," he said as he took the silver band out of the box and held it up to me. I slowly took it from him and placed it on my right ring finger, admiring it. He took my hand in his. "It suits you," he said and he kissed my hand. He let it go and smiled. "Go on, you'll be late." After that I was out the door and into the car, starting it.

"Hey! Look, look! Look at what Chanelle got on her finger!" Emmett said enthusiastically from beside me as I drove out the driveway and rolled my eyes. They all leaned forward to admire my new ring. I could see the smiles on the girl's faces. Jasper put his hand on my shoulder.

"You're one of us now, Ellie," he said. I smirked.

"Like their was any debate about that." In five minutes we were at the school. We pulled into the parking lot and the first thing I noticed was that they were all staring. "They're staring. Why?" I asked.

"We're in a Porsche, the same Porsche that drove into town on Saturday with the other four vehicles," Rose stated. "Look around. I don't see any other cars like this one, do you?" I did as she asked, and she was right. They were all used cars, bar the ones in the teacher parking lot, but they were the normal generic ones you could get on a teaching salary. Jasper sighed.

"Let's get this over with," he grumbled. I smiled at him in my mirror.

"What? Don't like the attention?" I teased. He just looked at me.

"You'll understand when we get outside. Come on." I sighed and turned off the engine, stepping out of the car with the rest of them.

"_Wow! Wake up and smell the hormones,"_ I thought to the four of them.

"_Now you understand my distaste," _Jasper thought and I smirked. Emmett went around to Rosalie and took her hand, and Jasper did the same. Jasper and Alice then came to stand beside me. He held out his arm to me.

"Ma'am," he said with a slight bow of the head I smiled and took his arm. I locked the car and we made our way to the school office, passing the kids in the lot as we went, with me listening to their thoughts about us.

_Jackpot! How did we end up with three gorgeous chicks?_

_Oh! Look at those guys! They are so hot! _

The juvenile thoughts were repeated in every mind. I mentally groaned.

"_Remind me why I was excited to come to school?" _I asked in general.

"_Our thoughts exactly," _Rose thought back as we entered the office and went up to the desk. We stopped in front of the desk and looked at the little stout woman behind the desk, a woman with dyed brown hair and lipstick on her teeth. The nameplate on the desk said _Mrs. Burch_.

"Excuse me?" I said politely. She looked up and smiled. That kind of forced smile you always see when adults look at teenagers.

"Hello. Can I help you?" she asked in a sugar-coated voice. _This amount of kids in one group coming here? This could turn sour_ she thought.

"Yes, we're the Cullens and the Hales. This is our first day," I replied, squeezing out as much 'southern belle' as I could. A flash of recognition spread across her features.

"Of course. Do you have your transcripts?" she asked and we passed them forward. She went to the room behind the desk and I turned to the others.

"Am I the only one who finds her the least bit creepy?" I asked them.

"No," they all answered simply. I smirked and turned back to the desk as Mrs. Burch came out with some more paperwork.

"Here are your schedules and maps around the school. Lunch is at one and last for an hour. Also, get this signed by all your teachers today and bring it back." She handed all the papers to us and we looked through them quickly. I looked up and smiled at her again.

"Thank you," I said and we headed out the door. "Do we need the maps?" I asked them.

"You might not, but we will for the first day. You have one thousand maps in the building at your disposal. Count your blessings," Jasper replied with distain lacing his words. I stopped walking and turned to him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. He never had this attitude. He sighed.

"I'm fine, it's just the emotional climate. I've been out of school for two years and the last one we were at wasn't this size. It's just a little hard. But I'll be fine." He sighed. We started walking again, still getting stares and desiring thoughts. "Who's got what?" Jasper asked us, and we checked. Then we looked at each others.

"Rose and I have French. Madame Bourdon. I like it when a week starts with something easy," I smiled.

"I have history. That should be alright," Alice said.

"And algebra for us, bro," Emmett said, wrapping his arm around Jasper's shoulders. I laughed.

"You two _really _drew the short straw," I said, still giggling. By now we made it to out lockers and we put away our coats. We went our separate ways to our classes, agreeing to meet in front of Alice's history class after this one. Rosalie made our way into our new French class and made our way to the desk where the teacher sat. We handed over our slips and she told us to sit at the back. We made our way there with everyone staring at us.

"_Don't you get the feeling that if we were human right now we would be blushing like mad?" _I asked her. She shrugged slightly, not enough for anyone else to notice.

"_You might, but I wouldn't. I don't mind."_

"_Because you are so sure of your beauty. If you were around in Shakespeare's time, I would debate that it was you he was comparing to a summer's day." _Our silent conversation carried on until Madame Bourdon asked us to stand and introduce ourselves. I went first.

"Bonjour. Je m'appelle Chanelle Cullen et je suis originaire de New Orleans," I said and quickly sat down. Rosalie said basically said the same thing, just changing the name and where she was from. The class was what I would imagine a class to be. A few girls tried to be nice and talk to us, and then some of the boys around us tried to hunt us, being suave on the outside but on the inside being boys with magazines or total players. Soon the bell rang and Rose and I made our way out.

After spending computing technology with Jasper, English with Rose again and P.E with the three of them, it was time for lunch. By now the whole school had heard of the Cullen's arrival, and we got quite a lot of looks in the hallways. We made our way to the canteen and found a table that was out of the way of everyone else, sitting down with our prop food. Emmett had Rosalie on his lap and Jasper had Alice's hand under the table. Emmett leaned forward to me.

"So what's the deal with the school? What's the gossip?" he asked excitedly. I smiled.

"There are cheaters, druggies, alcoholics that are in denial, guys that don't want her, girls that don't want him, and all that useless stuff. What I would imagine to be the norm for a twenty-first century high school." I leaned back in my chair, trying to keep me guard up towards all the juvenile minds.

"Any rumours yet?" Jasper asked. I smirked, thinking back to one I heard out of a blonde's head in English. "I know that look. Come on, who's it about?" he tried coaxing the answer out of me. I sighed and gave in.

"Alright. The rumour is about me. They have all noticed how you are all together and I'm almost a fifth wheel. At first the story was that I didn't date. Then some girl with an overactive imagination decided that I wasn't with anyone in school because I was engaged to someone in an Ivy League college who has a million-dollar trust fund and I'm marrying him after I finish high school. Oh, and my supposed husband-to-be is from England and knows the royal family, and Prince William is going to be his best man," I finished my story with a straight face, but the last word was drowned out by their laughter. If they could, Jasper's eyes would have been watering.

"Prince William? Seriously?" he asked incredulously. I nodded.

"Oh, yes. Samuel Huntingdon III and William go way back. They met while playing cricket at the park when they were six and have been joined at the hip ever since." I couldn't hold in my laughter any longer and found myself rocking in my chair too. We all calmed down soon and resumed normal chat. After about ten minutes we were sitting in a comfortable silence until a boy came over to the table. He was thin, not very tall and had acne all over his face. Poor boy, I bet he got shtick for that.

"Hi. I'm Kevin Morris. I just wanted to say welcome to New Hall. If you need a help around I would be happy to help. Or if you wanted to join a club or extra-curricular activity then tell me and I could help," he stuttered out, but I remained silent, not entirely sure what to do in this situation. Thankfully Rose stepped in.

"We're fine, thank you," she said a little icily. I sent her a slight look and she shrugged, but not enough for Kevin to see.

"Oh, um, okay. If you need anything, just ask. Um, well, bye," and he walked off, back to his group of friends. As soon as Kevin was out of earshot, I swivelled my head around to look at Rosalie.

"That was a bit harsh, Rose," I growled. I actually growled at her; I'm like my brother in that sense: I don't do that a lot. Rosalie looked slightly stunned at my outburst but then leaned forward so she could whisper.

"He needed to know not to come near us," she snapped, her teeth gritted. I wasn't worried about the impact that this was going to have on our friendship; she splattered me with deer's blood when I had said her hair was slightly out of place.

"Well you could have been a little bit more—" but I stopped there, interrupted by someone's abnormally loud internal screaming match.

_Stupid school, stupid house, asshole step-father. Ugh, this day will never end! I'm sick of this! Wait till I'm out of this hell-hole. Stupid, crap, off-map town!_

The internal shouting continued, but that was all I could handle before I had to close my mind off. Plus, that was all I needed to find the male voice it was. He had just entered the canteen and was making his way to a table with his tray in one hand, an angry expression on his face. He looked to be the age I was posing as; seventeen, possibly a young looking eighteen. His mouth was stuck in a straight line, his big, dark blue eyes angled forward towards his destination. He was wearing a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, almost as a sign of rebellion. With it he wore black pants with black shoes, which looked new from here. Over his shirt he wore a plain black leather jacket that stopped at his waist, like a motorcycle jacket. His longish dirty blonde hair fell around his head, not quite straight but not what you would class as curly either. He sat at a table that already had two boys sitting at it, and their attention immediately went to him. He was evidently the ringleader. I turned back to my family.

"Wa-ha-how! You should hear what's going on in this one guy's head. He has major rage going on in there." I turned to look at him once again, and could feel the others looking too. The other two at his table were talking at him, but he wasn't paying attention to them. Though his head was filled with these thoughts, his face looked rather sad, like he was coping, but only just. "He's hiding it quite well, though," I murmured, and turned back to the others. After about ten minutes, I heard something about us from the boy's table.

"Dude, you should see these new girls. Three of them, all amazingly hot. I don't mean supermodel hot, I mean out-of-this-world hot." He paused, and I saw in his head that he was looking around for us. He found us and pointed at us. "Them." The boy turned around to look at us all, taking us in one by one. He noticed that Alice and Jazz were together and Emmett and Rose were together.

"Names?" he asked his friend.

"Blondie and the buff dude are Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen. They're a thing. And then there's pixie girl and blonde and brooding; they are Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale. They, also, are a thing. Then there's Red. She is Chanelle Cullen, the only one not paired with anyone here. But, don't get your hopes up. She doesn't date. Plus, she's got this english Ivy League guy for her. She is severely off market, unless you want your ass to be wiped off the face of the earth." His friend told him.

"All Cullens and Hales? All related?"

"Adopted. The two blondes are twins, the brunettes are brother and sister, but Red is the sister of their adoptive father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, new doctor at the city hospital. Totally young, totally loaded." His friend sighed. "What I wouldn't give for her not to be taken," he sighed to himself.

"Do we have a name for this guy?" Emmett asked. I picked the name out of his head.

"Keleb North. He's seventeen, going on eighteen quite soon in April," I said to them quietly. Soon after we found there was nothing better to do so we got up, dumped our trays and went to go to our next classes. Rose had history with Emmett, Alice had English and Jazz and I had chemistry. I told Jasper to wait by the classroom door while I went and got my chemistry book out of my locker. He did, and I retrieved my book, but when I closed the door to the locker, there he was.

Keleb North.

He was leaning against the locker beside me, an easy smirk on his face. Evidently he didn't take his friend's warning that I was unavailable. Idiot.

"I'm Keleb North. You are Chanelle Cullen," he said, acting as if he had disproved Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

"Good observation. I think you're ready for brain surgery," I replied, turning away from him to walk the other way, but he got to that side, stopping me. I glared up at him. "Yes?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"I've heard stuff about you, and some stuff I don't like. So I think we should correct that. Go out with me on Friday." He said it as if I were about to jump up and down and squeal in delight. I did no such thing.

"That would be a 'no'. I think some of those things you heard are true. I don't date."

"I'll get to you eventually. You'll see soon enough."

"I doubt it. If I didn't want you to come anyway near me, you wouldn't have a chance," I said threateningly, and I could see him falter, his natural self-preservation instincts stepping in, telling him to stay away from danger—me. The bell for fifth period rang, signalling we should be in classes.

He stepped closer. "And why is that?" he murmured, close to my ear. Right then, I heard two people walk up behind me, and I knew full well know they were.

"Is there a problem, Chanelle?" Jasper asked me. I leaned into Keleb, up to his ear.

"I have a really bad-ass family." With that, I stepped back from him, only to back up into Emmett and Jasper's chests. "Let's go, guys. We are already late." The three of us turned around to head down the hall, to our classes. Jazz and I bid goodbye to Emmett as he ran to his class. We got to our class soon enough, also. Mr. Cassis was sitting at the front of the classroom, taking the register.

"Chanelle Cullen?" he called out, looking around blindly.

"Present." I called as Jazz and I were standing in the doorway. The class were immediately aware of our presence, the girls fluffing up their hair and the boys puffing out their chests, trying to attract us. We paid no attention to them as we made our way up to the teacher. We handed him our slips and he pointed us to a bench at the back that we could share, which suited us just fine. We were set today's work along with the rest of the class.

"_What was that about?" _Jasper asked once we were all working.

"_Nothing. Big shot thought he would have a crack at me. I'm fine. But thank you for coming to help. Sort of helped the implied threat, don't you think?" _I smirked at the memory of Keleb's face when Emmett and Jasper appeared behind me.

"_Yes. You see two big men behind a girl looking protective, you know to back off." _Jasper almost stuck out his chest in pride. I chuckled to myself and carried on working.

o-o-o-o

After having government with Emmett—that was an interesting class, listening to Emmett's thoughts all the way through it—the school day was finally over, and we all walked out to my car. Again, everyone was staring, thinking over the day they had to observe us. For once in my life, I felt like the prey, with the humans watching us, trying to find out everything they could about each one of us from one solitary day of observation. I scanned the other's minds; they were fine with being watched, Rosalie taking it in her stride, but I supposed it was because they were used to being watched. I was used to being watched a little—I did go out in the south—but not by this many people in such a small amount of time. We got to the car soon enough and I didn't waste any time driving out the parking lot, away from the teenage thoughts and the hormones that came with them. Jasper exhaled deeply.

"Thank you," he sighed.

"Not adjusting? I asked him.

"Nope. I guess it just takes a while to get acclimatised to 'teenager'." I laughed and focused on the road. I looked in the rear-view mirror to see that Emmett and Rose were having a moment, then looked to Jasper to see him focusing straight forward.

_I just got away from the teenagers and now I have to put up with them what did I do that made the Gods punish me so badly? _ I smirked slightly and made sure my gates were up and we were soon home. We didn't bother to wait for Emmett and Rosalie as we got out and approached the house. We got in and went to the living room, Alice and Jasper sitting on the sofa and myself sinking into the armchair. We heard footsteps coming from upstairs, and looked to see Esme and Carlisle coming down. They came in to sit in the other sofa across from the one Jasper and Alice were in.

"So, how was school?" Carlisle asked. Jasper answered before I did.

"Ellie's getting married!" he said happily, with a smug little smirk on his face. Carlisle's eyes suddenly shot to me, wide as if he had just seen the sun explode.

"Chanelle?" he asked worried. I rolled my eyes at him.

"It's a rumour! It was set up by a girl who has too much time on her hands. She made it up that I was getting married to a guy in college—"

"Ivy League college!" Jazz corrected.

"Ivy League college," I said through gritted teeth, "and that's why I wasn't with anyone like everyone else was. Jasper is playing a very mean joke on you, Carlisle," I soothed him. I turned to Jasper and scowled. "I will deal with you later." He shrunk back in his seat.

"Alright then. Wait, where are Emmett and Rosalie?" Carlisle asked and we all pointed to the door.

"Moment," we said together, and he nodded in understanding.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next few weeks carried on the same way; we went to school, avoided all humans that we could. Keleb still made himself known to me, and I had to applaud him in his efforts. During his daily flirting with me, I obliged and flirted back, and I had to admit, it was fun. Then someone from my family would pop up from behind me and steer him or me away, telling me that I would soon have to end my game if I knew what was best for the human. Rosalie soon got very annoyed with me.

One day we were all sitting at lunch, and I could feel Keleb's eyes on me as he ate. Rose huffed and sat up from her position next to Emmett.

"Alright, that punk human is _still _staring at you. Your little game with him is going too far. He's starting to think that you return his feelings. You have to stop!" she hissed. I narrowed my eyes at her; I had told her one night that he thought I liked him back, and now she was using it against me. That's just dandy.

"He _thinks _I do but I don't! Rosalie, it's a game; I little fun while we are here. If anything, the only thing we will ever be is friends, but I think that is highly unlikely. He is delusional, thinking that something will happen if he stays on the same track. I promise you, Rose. I won't let it happen like that. If I do, you can rip me apart, alright?"

She sighed and put her head on Emmett's shoulder. "As long as you don't turn into a girl version of Edward," she muttered.

Other than the whole 'Keleb' drama, things were good, simple, easy.

Too bad that wasn't going to last long.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**Hi! Okay, again, sorry for the lack of updates! I know what I want to happen in my head but I can't put it all together; the major things that I want come in little parts and I have to find stuff to put in between. **

**In other news… what do you think of Keleb North????? I want your opinions!! Reviews are great love senders!!! In my mind, I see him as Alex Pettyfer, but you can decide yourselves. **

**Xoxo**

**Cora **


	9. Author's Note

Ok, here's the deal. I know I haven't updated in ages, but I have a perfectly valid reason.

WRITERS BLOCK!!!

The thing all us authors fear and pray we wont get. But, alas, I have got it. you see, I know what I want to happen from the middle of the chapter, but I don't know how to get there. I have two options:

I can make it a shorter chapter than normal and have it out within maybe, I don't know, two weeks, because I have school and stuff that's the top of my priorities, as I'm sure that most of you can understand and appreciate. Or…

You can help me. You could message me and say you were willing to help. I would tell you what I have planned to happen for the rest of the chapter. Almost like a temp beta, I guess.

If no one replies to this within a week I will assume that you want the shorter chapter. If you think you can help, then please please please message me. Don't just think 'oh, someone else will do it; I don't have to' because they wont. I am asking from the bottom of my heart.

xoxo

Cora


	10. That Smile

8 – That Smile

Another few weeks passed, and things were getting tenser with Rose. Keleb was still being his usual flirty self, and I was okay with that, though I didn't reciprocate the feelings. Did I? No, of course I didn't. I couldn't. Could I? No, it wasn't possible. I have too many men that I was already sort-of with. I did _not _need another.

So right at the present moment Keleb and I were walking to my locker. School was over for the weekend and he was excited to be getting out. His parents were away and he had the house to himself all weekend.

"Pizza, horror films, video games, loud music! Its all going to happen at my place!" he exclaimed with his arms in the air, twirling to my locker.

"And beer! Don't forget the beer!" I pointed out.

"Definitely don't forget the beer!" he shouted. I laughed at him and he turned to ask what was so funny, when he crashed into the wall. I looked like I was having a fit to everyone else, but really I was doubled over in laughter holding my sides, almost on the floor. He shook himself to get rid of the dizziness that he had running around in his head, and then turned to see me laughing. As soon as he looked I stood back up and pursed my lips, trying not to let my giggles out. He stepped up to me.

"You think that was funny, do you?" he asked me. I shook my head quickly, then rethinking, nodded, smiling like a Cheshire cat. He scowled playfully then came up closer to me.

"You know, just for that you are going to pay."

"What did you have in mind this time? Joy-ride in my car? Free medical treatment for a year? What do you want?" I asked sarcastically. He looked at me, unsure.

"Spend some time with me. Tonight. At mine," he said. I sighed, looking straight down. In his mind I could see that he was almost regretting what he had said because or my reaction. He stepped closer.

"I can't. I really can't," I replied quietly, softly. Rose was right; he did like me. Why was my stomach doing flips?

"Why? Because of your family? Chanelle, that doesn't matter," he spoke just as softly. By now everyone had left the hallway and I could hear my families thoughts about what was taking me so long. Jasper was coming in to see what was taking so long. I looked back up to Keleb.

"Yes it does." Just then the doors to the hall opened to reveal Jasper. He looked at the two of us warily, and I stepped away from Keleb.

"Are you coming, Chanelle?" he asked stiffly. Oh dear, he's calling me 'Chanelle'. This is not a good thing.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," I called to him then turned back to Keleb. He didn't want apologies. "I'll see you Monday." I touched my ice cold hand to his hot cheek and he nodded. He didn't even flinch at the temperature of my hand. I turned around and walked to the door. Jasper still waited there and held his arm out to me. I took it and walked out, having to put down my gates to stop Keleb's hurt thoughts from intruding my head. I hung my head as we walked through the halls, Jasper not saying anything. Before we got outside, Jasper stopped me.

"Okay, while they are out of hearing distance, are you sure you are alright, darlin'?" he asked quietly. I smiled slightly.

"I think I am, but I might not be." I sighed. "I thought that I could have a friend who was totally oblivious to our world; someone that wasn't caught up in blood-lust, and the funny looks we get from our kind because of our eyes. Someone who didn't see me as one of the freaks of our species. It would have been nice to have someone outside our family that I could be normal with. Is that too much to ask?" I asked him and looked towards the floor. He put a finger under my chin, tilting it upwards.

"No," he stated simply before pulling me into a hug. I returned it and we stood for a while, then we let go. He smiled at me then. "Come on, I need my Ellie back; the one who will _always _put me in my place. I need my best friend back. Where is she?" he asked as if I was a child, but I played along and pointed to myself.

"She's right here." I smiled brightly. He looked at me with a mock shocked face.

"There she is! I was wondering when you were coming back." I smacked his arm and he held it. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. I smirked.

"Well then, don't patronise me, cowboy." He laughed and hooked my arm with his.

"Come on; we'll go home and we can jump off the cliff. We can pretend for a moment that there is such a thing as suicide." I laughed and we carried on down the hall to the doors that lead to the parking lot. By now there were only two cars left: my car and Keleb's car. His was an old Ford, the normal thing for a high school student to have. Jasper and I stepped out the doors to be met with shouts.

"Finally!" Emmett shouted with his hands in the air. I smiled at him. "Did you get eaten by your locker? What took you so long?"

"I, uh, just had to take care of something. It's done now, so." I unlocked the car. "Get in. Let's go home."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Jasper and I _did _actually jump off the cliff. It might have been kind of morbid, though it was like being a little girl dressing up in her mother's clothes, but the humans were the mother, and the clothes were the suicide. Wow, we had a really good pity party to ourselves. While in the water, Jasper spoke.

"You know, four years ago I would have invited Edward to this," he said. I looked at him funny.

"Why would you do that?" I asked incredulously. When I met him he was perfectly happy with his lot; on top of the moon, really.

"Before Bella came into the picture, there was really no point for him. He had some good times with us, but I could tell it was hurting him when he was around the rest of us, and I didn't even need my ability to be able to tell that," he told me. I furrowed my eyebrows. "He tried, once. But that was when he had been with Bella. I'm sure Carlisle told you about that?" he asked and I nodded. He smiled grimly. "Yeah… Emmett and I said to him if he ever did that again he wouldn't even need the Volturi; we would do it for him. Thank God he heeded the warning." I nodded to him.

"Hey!" we heard from above. We looked at each other then up, to see Alice. She was smiling and waving to us. I looked to Jazz to see that smile. That smile that every man had when he saw the woman he loved. That relaxed, easy smile that they didn't think about. Every man in this house had it, even if they didn't know it; it hadn't changed over the years. Hair styles have changed, so have clothes, but that smile remains constant. Right now it was plastered all over his face.

"Hey, Al. You joinin'?" Jasper asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. I came out to tell you to get your butts out the water and come up here!" I looked at Jasper with an incredulous look.

"And why, pixie, would we do that?" I asked her. It got her really riled up when I called her that.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mister and Miss South, but I thought it was time you were social, rather than getting all prune-y," she huffed and I laughed, turning to Jasper.

"In translation she wants you," I laughed and hoisted myself up onto the rocks, climbing up to the cliff's edge. When I got to the top Alice was holding out a towel to me. I smiled and took it, wrapping myself up tightly. I thanked her and walked into the house, but not before shouting over my shoulder, "You two, can we please keep it R rated for the mind reader? Merci."

o-o-o-o

Walking down the stairs from the shower, I saw all the men around the computer with none of the women in the room. I stood on the stairs with my hands on my hips.

"Do I have to tell your wives on you for what is on that screen?" I asked the accusingly.

"No," they say in unison without looking up from the screen.

"Ellie, you would like this," Jasper told me. I walked down the stairs cautiously and approached the screen. Once I saw the screen, I almost drooled at the sight.

"Oh, that is _gorgeous_," I said, staring at the image. Carlisle nodded.

"Then there is this one." He clicked on another image and I gasped.

"That beats the last one. Got any more wonders for me?" I asked hopefully. Emmett nodded.

"Oh yeah." Another image. Even better looking than the last. "This one tops them all, doesn't it?" he asked with a smile on his face, and all I could do was nod. Then, as if by magic, the rest of the women walked into the house and we all looked up slowly, guiltily.

"Do you have anything to say in your defence?" Alice asked cheerfully. I smiled slightly.

"This isn't what it looks like?" I tried. Rose popped her hip and crossed her arms.

"And here I thought you didn't swing that way, Chanelle," she said disapprovingly. I smirked.

"Would you want in on it if I did?" I asked, flirting with her. Carlisle laughed. Rosalie considered the idea, looking me up and down. She bit her lip.

"I guess there is a first time for everything," she finally said. I laughed and looked at Emmett. He looked at his wife shocked.

"Do you realise how hot you are to me right now?" he said to her. I laughed and clapped my hands.

"Alright, alright. Let's settle down," Esme said and I let out one last giggle. "What are you all looking at? We heard what you were saying." I look at the guys and they look back at me. Alice huffs and comes around to look at the screen. She takes one glance at the screen and looks at us all incredulously.

"Cars?" she asked. "You are behaving this way over _cars_?" We all look at each other a bit, and then nodded innocently, smiling. She rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and walked away. But, before she was out the room, she gasped and stopped in her tracks, becoming rigid. It was apparent that she was having a vision, but my gate was up and I couldn't get it down fast enough to see the vision. She gasped again and it was all over, but she just stood there. Jasper went to her side, putting both his hands on her shoulders.

"What did you see, Al?" he asked softly. She slowly turned around and then fixed her eyes on me.

"Chanelle," she breathed and I looked her straight in the eye. I walked towards her, taking up the stance Jasper had.

"Alice, what did you see?" I asked gently. She looked so scared; what could she have seen to make this bubbly pixie like this?

"It's Keleb," she whispered and I was now on red alert. Now I really needed to know what she saw.

"Alice, tell me what you saw. What has happened to Keleb?"

"There was a fire at his house. He's on his own." That was all I could bear to listen; I had to get there. I ran up to my room to grab my shoes, but in the process I knocked over the box I kept on my desk with all my Felix letters in it. _I'll deal with it later. Keleb is more important. _I ran back down the stairs to find all the family still there.

"Carlisle, can you please get to the hospital? I need you to treat him. Please?" I was near hysterics. He stood up and came over to me and gave me a hug. I gripped his back, clawing for support.

"Of course. Of course," he said into my hair. He pulled out of the hug. "But where are you going?" I didn't answer him, instead kissing his cheek before running out of the house towards Keleb's. He had to be alright.

o-o-o-o

By the time I got there, the house was engulfed in flicked orange flames, licking the walls on both stories. From what I could hear of the thoughts in the surrounding houses the fire department and ambulance would be here in five minutes. That wasn't going to be enough time.

Fire was not a good thing. For any living thing. Or dead, in my case. Fire was the one final way for vampires to die; there was no other way. But I had to consider going in there, trying to save him, trying to get him out, even if it meant that I had to suffer, then so be it. He was my best friend, the only normal one out of all the people I knew alive today, and I was determined to keep it that way. My decision was resolute.

I was going in.

I entered the flaming hot mass and scanned around the building. Since most of the interiors were made of wood, most of it was gone by now. The stairs had fallen through and the floor was burning hot. I made my way through the house to the living room to see the sight I was dreading. My eyes widened and if I were human I would look as pale as I did normally. I gasped.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I screamed. There, lying on the floor face down was Keleb. I rushed over to him and turned him over. He was unconscious, but I could tell from the beating of his heart he was alive. There were cuts all over his face, some small, some larger. I scanned the rest of him for injuries. I could see clearly that the top of his shirt was burned off and skin burned. From what I could find his back was also burnt, as was his right hand. Other than that I didn't think there was much more. My priority was getting him out.

I looked around me to see if I had clear space to move him. When I was sure, I picked him up and made a beeline for the front door, which would soon be ash. But, before I left, I took his leather jacket. Each time I'd seen him he'd always have it, and he wasn't Keleb without it. I grabbed it and headed for the door, but was soon blocked by a piece of wood falling from the ceiling. I stepped back from it, looking for another exit. I was really starting to get scared now, and I found myself wondering if we would get out. I looked to the back of the house and saw that part of the wall was knocked down but was surrounded in fire. It was like a Ring of Fire. _Where's the motorcycle when you need it?_ I found myself thinking, but quickly dispelled the thoughts, focusing on the task. Oh, God, what if part of the flame got me? Would the rest of me follow like I was doused in fuel? Would only that bit burn, never to grow back? Fire was one of my greatest fears and I was about to go through it. I took a moment to compose myself and jumped through the gap.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**Ohhh, a bit of a cliffhanger, I guess. I am reeealy sorry about not updating. As I said in my note major writer's block and stuff going on. So, sorry it's pretty crap, but it was rushed and I hope the next one is better.**

**xoxo**

**Cora**


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